Poll: Britons oppose military action to free sailors held by Iran

Well it's official, the Brits have officially become Francified.

Most Britons oppose immediate military action to free 15 navy personnel detained in Iran, and believe the government will resolve the crisis peacefully, a poll released Saturday suggests.

Only 8 percent of respondents to the survey for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said Britain should prepare to use military force at this stage, nine days into the crisis. Asked if force should be used as a last resort, 48 percent were opposed and 44 percent in favor.

Forty percent of Britons polled backed the government's current strategy of quiet diplomacy but no apology to Iran, while 17 percent felt Britain should impose sanctions and 26 percent felt Britain should apologize and ask for the captives back.

Hope everyone here in the US likes what they see because these are previews of coming attractions.

ElBaradei: Iran not a nuclear threat to world

Unfortunately for Elbaradei, wishing it so doesn't make it so.

LONDON, March 31 (IranMania) - IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that Iran is not considered as a nuclear threat to the world, IRNA reported.

In an interview with Al-Arabia television network, he said the country poses no nuclear threats to any country around the globe.

Iran's problems should be resolved through comprehensive talks with all parties, he underlined.

Military conflict does not help resolve the issue, he said, adding that it only will lead to a regional catastrophe and will make the situation more complicated.

House silent on captured British sailors

Squishy cowering spineless jellyfish warning!

Members of the House left Washington on Friday for their two-week spring break without weighing in on the international crisis tormenting the nation's closest ally: the capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.

The omission by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., is being noted by some Republicans, who say they should have gotten the chance to join the Senate in denouncing Tehran's bold actions.

Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly said the speaker was reluctant to weigh in on the incident without knowing that such a message would do more good than harm.

For crying out loud, why not take a stand on the situation because IT"S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

With five private jets, Travolta still lectures on global warming

"Right for thee but not for me." More rank hypocrisy from the left.....

His serious aviation habit means he is hardly the best person to lecture others on the environment. But John Travolta went ahead and did it anyway.

The 53-year-old actor, a passionate pilot, encouraged his fans to "do their bit" to tackle global warming.

But although he readily admitted: "I fly jets", he failed to mention he actually owns five, along with his own private runway.

Clocking up at least 30,000 flying miles in the past 12 months means he has produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions – nearly 100 times the average Briton's tally.

U.S. and Iraqi forces capture suspect linked to sophisticated roadside bombs known as EFPs, military says

This guy they need to squeeze hard.

BAGHDAD: The U.S. military announced the capture Friday of a suspected militant linked to the import into Iraq of sophisticated roadside bombs that the Americans have asserted are coming from Iran.

The suspect, who was detained by U.S. and Iraqi forces during a raid in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, was believed to be tied to networks bringing the weapons known as explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, into Iraq, the military said.

The suspect was believed to be involved with several violent extremist groups responsible for attacks against Iraqis and U.S.-led forces, according to the statement

Iran's secret plan if attacked codenamed 'Judgment Day'

Tehran has recruited and funded eight Islamic fundamentalist organizations to undertake retaliatory strikes against U.S. and British military and economic interests across the Middle East – and perhaps in the U.S. and Europe – in the event Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, reports a London Arab daily, Asharq Al-Awsat.

The plan, which has been heavily funded and was created by a number of experts in guerilla warfare and terrorist operations, includes suicide attacks against U.S. and British targets in the region as well as their allies. According to information gleaned from a senior source in the Iranian armed forces' joint chief of staff, logistical support for the groups that would participate in the plan comes from Brigadier General Qassim Suleimani of the of the Revolutionary Guards' al Quds Brigades.

Meanwhile a high ranking US government official confirmed that in the event of an Iranian attack they would initiate their secret plan codenamed "Operation Desert Glass".

British Forces Surround Iranian Consulate in Iraq

Working on confirmation.

(IsraelNN.com) British forces have surrounded the Iranian consular offices in southern Iraq in an effort to force Tehran to free 15 British sailors and marines siezed last week. They allegedly entered Iranian waters, a charge Britain denies.

The latest British action comes one day after Iran broadcast a video of an alleged confession by a female British sailor that the naval patrol entered Iranian waters. The British Foreign Office replied that the video was "completely unacceptable."

The video featured the woman, Faye Turney, wearing a headscarf and makeup and puffing a cigarette. Broadcast in Arabic with a translation, she said, "Obviously we trespassed into their waters. They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested; there was no harm, no aggression."

Iran releases (VIDEO) of British Navy sailors captured in Arvanroud

Just how far does this thing have to go before the Brits decide it's time to take off the gloves?

Jellyfish Alert

Unbelievable....

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday withdrew the ambassadorial nomination of businessman Sam Fox after Democrats denounced Fox for giving money to a controversial conservative group that undermined Sen. John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign.

Kerry, D-Mass., had criticized Fox because of a $50,000 contribution that Fox made in 2004 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Many Democrats blame the group for sinking Kerry's presidential hopes that year after it aired a series of controversial ads that impugned Kerry's military record in the Vietnam War.

"Ambushed"

As if there was ever any doubt.

The Ministry of Defence has released confirmation that the 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines captured by Iran were in Iraqi waters when they were snatched.

It says they were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi territory - and revealed the exact co-ordinates of the event to back up its claim.

Vice Admiral Charles Style said the MoD "unambiguously contested" Iran's claims that the boarding party had strayed into Iranian waters.

The Iranian government is lying and the only one left who doesn't know that is Rosie.

Fifty percent of Adults would not vote for Clinton

Contrary to the popular belief in lefty circles, she's no Bill.

Half of voting-age Americans say they would not vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she became the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday.

More than one in five Democrats that participated in the survey said they would not vote for Clinton. Overall, 36 percent say they would vote for the former first lady and 11 percent are unsure of their top choice.

Forty-eight percent of Independent voters also said that they would choose another candidate over Clinton, the poll, which surveyed 2,223 potential voters, states.

Fifty-six percent of men said that they would not vote for Clinton, while 45 percent of women said that she would not be their pick. In addition, 69 percent of those 62 and older said that they would not vote for Clinton.

Tribe Zoba declares war on Al Qaeda

With more Sunnis turning every day al-Qaeda in Iraq is on borrowed time.

Sot Al-Iraq reports ongoing clashes between Zoba’ tribesmen and insurgents affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq or the Islamic State of Iraq in Abu Ghraib, Al-Zaidan and Amiriyat Al-Fallujah west of Baghdad. The clashes were in response to the assassination attempt against Deputy Prime Minister Salam Al-Zobai, who is a member of the tribe, several days ago and a failed assassination attempt against a Zoba’ tribal leader in Mosul yesterday.

Unknown gunmen had opened fire at Sheikh Mohammed Jassim Al-Ugood and missed him but Al-Ugood’s son Buraq, 24, was killed. Local sources and the state-run Al-Iraqiya TV reported that two suicide bombers attacked the residence of another Zoba’ tribal leader at Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad this morning.

The attacks targeted Sheikh Dhahir Al-Dhari, a cousin of Sheikh Harith Al-Dhari, the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq. Al-Dhari had recently joined the Anbar Salvation Council against Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The Zoba' tribe, which had so far strongly supported the Sunni-led insurgency against the U.S., occupies a vast area west, north and southwest of the capital, in addition to a presence near Mosul. The tribe's area of influence extends from Baghdad to Ramadi in the west and from the Baghdad International Airport to Mahmoudiya in the south.

Tony Snow's Cancer Has Spread to Liver

DAMN!

WASHINGTON - Presidential spokesman Tony Snow's surgery to remove a small growth showed that his cancer has returned, the White House said Tuesday.

Snow, 51, had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer. A small growth was discovered last year in his lower right pelvic area, and it was removed on Monday. Doctors determined that it was cancerous, and that his cancer had metastasized, or spread, to his liver, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

She said Snow is resting comfortably after his surgery and has pledged to aggressively fight the disease with an as-yet-to-be-determined treatment course.

Tony is one of my favorite people. He's a quality individual and class act. I will be praying for him and his family, I hope you will too.

Thompson Takes Bites Out of Giuliani, Romney

Mrs. Traderrob hates it when I am this right.....

The latest USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, on the presidential race is out, and it's a humdinger. It's hard to say what the headline even is. Here are a few tries, though:

* Romney's support drops to within the margin of error of not existing (that's 3% support in a poll where the margin of error is 3%).

* Giuliani's support drops 13 percentage points since the last USA Today/ Gallup poll, March 2-4 (that's gotta hurt).

* Fred Thompson (not running, by the way) is now the No. 3 in the GOP field, at 12%.

She knows I'm impossible enough to live with as it is.

Prognostications here and here.

Iraqi gunmen mow down 9 children

This is gut wrenching. Aside from being detestable and abhorrent it's just plain stupid. The most effective way to galvanize the Iraqi people against their cause is to perpetrate this sort of inhuman barbarity.

BAGHDAD, March 26 (UPI) -- Machine gun-toting guerrillas in Baghdad gunned down a mixed Shiite-Sunni group of children playing soccer in a park, The Times of London reported.

The incident happened Saturday when two cars carrying four or five men wearing tracksuits pulled up to the park, witness Selim Amer told a Times correspondent.

"I started looking and they are shooting the kids," he said. "Eight of the kids already fell on the ground. The guys kept shooting, they just wanted to make sure everyone was dead."

Fleet leaves for historic exercise

The initiative to improve and solidify the strategic relationship between the US and India is one of the most important and underreported issues in American foreign policy.

PORT BLAIR: A naval fleet, led by one of Indian Navy’s most potent destroyers, left the harbour here on Sunday on a long voyage that would not only set several new milestones for the Navy but also raise the discussion over China’s growing military might to new levels.

Over the next few months, the naval fleet of five ships would stage for the first time in 15 years an Indo-US naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean, an Indo-Russian naval exercise in Russian waters, and spend almost four months out in the sea. But most crucially, the fleet would carry out a historic trilateral exercise with US and Japan.

Debut Announcement

One of my twins (Nathan) is making his blog debut with an announcement this morn.

I won the pinewood derby. My car was red and weighed 4.9 oz. There was a car that beat me the first race so I was in the consolation group I won every race in the consolation group. At the end I had to race the the boy who beat me the first time and I won. He got second and I got first. I received a trophy and medals.

My second twin got 5th place primarily because Nathan bumped him out of the finals near the end. He had the third fastest car but luck of the draw ya know.

Good job both! Dad is proud.

Iraq's Sunni Sheiks Join Americans To Fight Insurgency

Encouraging news, the fact that AP actually put it in print is nothing short of amazing.

Not long ago it would have been unthinkable: a Sunni sheik allying himself publicly with American forces in a xenophobic city at the epicenter of Iraq's Sunni insurgency.

Today, there is no mistaking whose side Sheik al-Rishawi is on. Outside his walled home, a U.S. tank is on permanent guard beside a clutch of towering date palms and a protective dirt berm.

The 36-year-old sheik is leading a growing movement of Sunni tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaida-linked insurgents. The dramatic shift in alliances may have done more in a few months to ease daily street battles and undercut the insurgency here than American forces have achieved in years with arms.

Iran "to Try Britons for Espionage"

One of these times Amanextremenutjob is going to pay a heavy price forh is arrogance, this may be that time.

FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying.

A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted.

Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.”

U.N. Security Council OKs Tougher Sanctions on Iran

Now the slap on the wrist will be accompanied by a firm scolding.

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose moderately tougher sanctions against Iran, hoping to send Tehran a strong message that it will grow more isolated by refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment.

The 15 members of the Security Council approved a ban on Iranian arms exports and a freeze of the assets of 28 additional people and organizations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs. About a third of those are linked to the Revolutionary Guard, an elite military corps.

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says

Two little man made Rovers and look what we've done....

Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.

In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.

"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.

And this: NASA Finds Sun-Climate Connection in Old Nile Records

Iran Seizes UK Military Personnel

Iran has jumped the shark, now will they be smart enough to let go.

The Iranian military seized 15 British naval personnel in the waters off Iraq early this morning, the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

The British sailors were conducting what were described as "routine boarding operations" of a merchant marine vessel when they were surrounded by Iranian military boats and escorted into Iranian waters.

The British boarding operation, according to the ministry's statement, was authorized under a United Nations resolution and supported by the government of Iraq.

The British Government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment," the Ministry of Defence statement said.

Chlorine cache found in Iraq

Yet the left refuses to acknowledge they would use them then with undeniable proof they're using them now.

BAGHDAD -- U.S. troops sweeping Baghdad have found containers of nitric acid and chlorine, raising concerns that insurgents are expanding their use of chemicals in the war for power in Iraq, military officials said yesterday.

The containers were found as part of a larger cache of weapons discovered as U.S. and Iraqi troops cleared house after house in the Sunni-majority Ghazaliyah neighborhood in western Baghdad.

In a new twist in the Iraqi conflict, chlorine gas set off by suicide bombers in villages west of Baghdad killed at least eight and sickened hundreds last week. It was the first time the chemical was found in the capital.

Although both nitric acid and chlorine have a variety of industrial uses, finding them alongside weapons stashes in known terrorist havens signified a change of tactic for the fighters, said a U.S. military official who asked not to be named. "We've seen them use caustic acid with improvised explosive devices to burn the skin," said the official, adding that although the acid does not increase the lethality of a bomb, it does make it "nastier."

Three Major Terror Busts in Iraq -- Iran, Syria Connections Exposed, Say U.S. Officials

Now the big question; What are are we going to do about it?

U.S. forces have arrested the two leaders of the network believed responsible for the brazen raid in Karbala by terrorists disguised as Americans, in which five U.S. soldiers were kidnapped and later killed in January, U.S. military officials said today.

In operations over the past several days in Basra and Hillah, coalition forces captured Qais Khazali, his brother Laith Khazali and several other members of the Khazali network, a splinter faction of the Mahdi army.

Senior U.S. military sources tell ABC News that hard evidence linking the Khazalis to the Karbala raid, including the ID cards of several of the dead American soldiers, was recovered at the scene.

And it was also revealed that a "Saddam Fedayeen leader involved in setting up training camps in Syria for Iraqi and foreign fighters" was also arrested in Mosul. Officials declined to name the individual or describe the location of the camps in Syria.

The coalition also found evidence linking the men to Iran and to an arms smuggling operation that included the high impact Explosively Formed Projectiles, or EFPs, according to U.S. officials.

GOP Forces House Democrats To Pull DC Voting Bill

The left has been so busy whining, obstructing and doing everything possible to bring down the Bush administration they've forgot how to govern.

House Democrats pulled a bill to grant voting rights to Washington, D.C., after Republicans offered a motion that would repeal the gun ban for the District.

The move is a clear signal that Democrats have lost control of House floor after minority Republicans presented the Democratic majority with a politically unpalatable motion that their conservative members would be forced to support for fear of angering the gun rights community.

Fifty-two Democrats voted with Republicans on a similar measure to repeal the gun ban in 2004. That would be more than enough support for Republcians to add a repeal to the voting rights bill - something a majority of Democrats would vehemently oppose.

CODEPINK plans takeover of Pelosi’s office

Moonbats cannibalizing their own.

Anti-war group CODEPINK is planning to take over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office at 4:00 pm, the group said.

Protesters plan to play “Pin the war on the Donkey” to show their frustration with the Democratic leadership’s inaction of ending the war in Iraq.

Dukelax Update

Drudge REPORT: All charges may be dropped as early as tomorrow in Duke Lacrosse rape case, FOXNEWS reports... 'We will be hearing a dismissal in the coming days.

Iraq - Top al-Sadr aide captured over kidnapping, killing of five U.S. soldiers

Everyday there are more indications that the surge is working. All the Democrats who have invested in our failure are sweating bullets as the dynamic in Iraq begins to change. Just watch, they'll choose an incessant string of pointless hearings as a refuge and to draw attention away from any good news.

BAGHDAD, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have captured a senior aide to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr over the kidnapping and killing of five U.S. soldiers in the Iraqi city of Kerbala in January, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

"Over the past several days, coalition forces in Basra and Hilla captured Qais Khazaali, his brother Laith Khazaali, and several other members of the Khazaali network, an organisation directly connected to the kidnapping and murder in January of five American soldiers in Kerbala," the military said in a statement. Qais Khazaali is a former spokesman for Sadr and now a senior aide to the cleric.

Heidi and the Gang

If there was any question that climofascist central otherwise known as the weather channel was liberal to the core this should remove all doubt....

In introducing a segment on Algore, the Weather Bimbo referred to him as "former Vice President although we like to refer to him as former President-Elect Al Gore".

h/t Streetpreacher

Gore on Climate Change (Manbearpig Alert)

Former Vice President Al Gore appears before a House Energy Subcmte. hearing on Global Climate Change. He’s joined by Professor Bjorn Lomborg, author of a book titled, “The Skeptical Environmentalist.” Gore will also appear later today before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.

Al Gore Refuses to Hear GOP Opening Statements

Puts fingers in ears LALALALA, I can't hear you, LALALALA.

Iraq insurgents used children in car bombing: General

And the left wants to leave Iraq in the hands of these sick ba$tards.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Insurgents in Iraq detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle with two children in the back seat after US soldiers let it through a Baghdad checkpoint over the weekend, a senior US military official said Tuesday.

The vehicle was stopped at the checkpoint but was allowed through when soldiers saw the children in the back, said Major General Michael Barbero of the Pentagon's Joint Staff.

"Children in the back seat lowered suspicion. We let it move through. They parked the vehicle, and the adults ran out and detonated it with the children in the back," Barbero said.

Words fail me.

Obama more liberal than Kucinich, analysis reveals

The first revelation surprises me a bit the second not at all....

WASHINGTON - The most liberal member of Congress running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination isn't Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. It's Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

And the Republican candidate who's grown less conservative over his years in Congress? Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

On the Democratic side, the analysis of "lifetime" voting records shows Obama as the most liberal with a score of 84.3 after two full years in the Senate. The most liberal score possible was 99.

A US soldier burned in effigy at Demonstration in Portland

JERKS!

Clueless on the Right

There are a few conservative pundits who need to be called to task for their lack of insight and political tin ears.

Rich Lowry writes at NRO "The way these multi-candidate races typically work is that the more conservatives get in, the harder it is for other conservatives to get traction. By this logic, McCain and Giuliani have to be rooting for both Thompson and Gingrich to get in, because then the race would positively be overwhelmed with under-financed, under-organized conservatives" Now Lowry is correct more often than not but he does suffer from intermittent right sided myopia combined with the oft habit of not doing his homework. That is why he usually gets his butt kicked when he substitutes for Hannity.

Lumping Thompson and Gingrich together is his first mistake. Conservatives feel comfortable with both men concerning their beliefs, the big difference is most are perceptive enough to know that Gingrich is unelectable at least at this point in history. The opposite is true of Thompson, most who are closely following the undercurrents of conservative sentiment see that the vast majority of us on the right see Thompson as eminently electable.

He also fails to comprehend Thompson's top to bottom appeal to the rank and file within the party. I've heard from Hunter supporters and I've heard from Hagel supporters, what could these people possibly have in common? They both say Thompson would be an acceptable nominee. I would venture to guess that the person most hurt by Thompsons entrance into the fray would be Giuliana followed by McCain. The vast majority of support for these two is from the average Republican who fears Hillary or Obama so much that they would be willing to vote for almost anyone with an R next to their name just to keep one of those two out of the White House. You give them a viable alternative like Thompson and they'll jump ship in the blink of an eye. Romney will be hurt as well but he has been such a surpising underachiever (to me anyway) it will be less noticeable.

Others pundits who I like and respect a lot ie. Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer and others have been pretty dismissive of the potential Thompson candidacy. Terrific analysts, but these are big picture top to bottom sort of guys all too often suffering from "Beltway Brain"( a common affliction effecting ones ability to discern populous trends especially originating from the grassroots up). Given enough time it will ultimately become obvious to even the most severely obtuse.

If Thompson becomes a candidate for the Republican nomination, I will absolutely guarantee one thing , the top three as they stand now will no longer be the top three and more than a few so called "experts" will be tripping over their own jaws.

Al Gore Challenged to International TV Debate on Global Warming

Any bets on whether he'll accept? I'm givin 10:1 against.

PERTH, Scotland, March 19 /USNewswire-In a formal invitation sent to former Vice-President Al Gore's Tennessee address andreleased to the public, Lord Monckton has thrown down the gauntlet tochallenge Gore to what he terms "the Second Great Debate," aninternationally televised, head-to-head, nation-unto-nation confrontationon the question, "That our effect on climate is not dangerous."

Monckton, a former policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher during her yearsas Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said, "A careful study of thesubstantial corpus of peer-reviewed science reveals that Mr. Gore's film,An Inconvenient Truth, is a foofaraw of pseudo-science, exaggerations, anderrors, now being peddled to innocent schoolchildren worldwide."

We all know how the climofascists do when confronted: Skeptics Voted The Clear Winners In Global Warming Debate

Hannity Poll

We having been predicting since speculation began that a Thompson run would be formidable, but these results are extraordinary.

1. Newt Gingrich
17.92%(1823)

2. Rudy Giuliani
11.95%(1216)

3. Mike Huckabee
1.40%(142)

4. Sec. of State Condi Rice
4.53%(461)

5. Sen. Sam Brownback
2.28%(232)

6. Sen. Fred Thompson
51.84%(5275)

7. Sen. John McCain
1.69%(172)

8. Gov. Mitt Romney
8.39%(854)

Pelosi: Iraqi Optimism Highlights Bush Surge Failure

A new poll shows Iraqis are “irrationally optimistic, misguided in their support of the new government and in denial about the civil war raging in their country,” according to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“These are just a few of the devastating consequences of the Bush surge in Iraq,” said Rep. Pelosi, D-CA, “and I fear that we’re seeing only the tip of iceberg.”

The survey of 5,019 Iraqis, published today, showed that despite almost daily car bombings and sectarian tensions, 49 percent prefer the government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki to the more stable regime of the late President Saddam Hussein. Only 26 percent said things had been better under Mr. Hussein.

“Clearly these people are out of touch with the reality on the ground in Iraq,” said Mrs. Pelosi in an interview at her San Francisco office. “If they had read the New York Times or watched CNN, they would never draw these ridiculous conclusions.”

Gotcha, it's Scrappleface, but it sure wouldn't hafta be.

Official confirms detention of senior member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq

And the good grabs continue....

Iraqi and American forces have detained a close aide to the chief of Al-Qaeda organization in an operation in eastern sector of the Iraqi capital, a military official spokesman confirmed on Sunday.

The official spokesman of the law-enfocement command, Brigadier Qassem Atta, said in a statement that Mohammad Hamad Kamal, also known as "Abu Qutada the Palestinian," was nabbed on Palestine street.

He is a close aide to the top chief of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyoub Al-Masri

Protesters march against Iraq war

Thousands of demonstrators have been holding anti-war rallies as the anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq nears.

In Washington, thousands braved cold temperatures to march to the Pentagon carrying placards denouncing the war.

Tuesday marks four years since the war began. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died as well as some 3,200 US troops. [snip]

Several thousand others, many members of the armed services, gathered in counter rallies in support of the war, playing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".

The story spends 15 count em (15) paragraphs not to mention the headline gushing over the "thousands" of antiwar demonstrators while the counter demonstrators numbering in the "several thousands" garnered a grand total of one (1) paragraph, go figure.

Update: Michelle Malkin reports "Kit at Gathering of Eagles reports on the National Park Service estimate of the GoE turnout: 30,000 strong. The silent majority no more."

A Party of Jellyfish

I am a conservative and and member of the Republican party because they generally best represent my conservative beliefs. What I have been witnessing lately however has given me pause to question my party and what they stand for.

Many of us in the Republican ranks have been somewhat disenchanted lately with our Republican bretheren over an increasing tendency toward larger government, earmarks and an overall lack of adherence to bedrock conservative principals. Although this is a disturbing trend I as many like me have accepted it because the alternative is so much worse. It's a lesser of two evils sort of thing. George Bush has done some terrific things in office but I do blame him in large degree for much of this as he has failed to lead in the key areas of fiscal conservatism and immigration.

While this drift away from core beliefs is irritating and disconcerting I can gag it down. What I cannot stomach is the absolute lack of spine both the administration and Republicans in Congress have shown when dealing with the Democrats. Whether it be confirming judges, the war on terror, Valerie Plame or the attorneys kerfuffle the Republicans have shown an inexplicable tendency to roll on their collective backs like an abused dog.

I don't know whether they have all lost their "fire in the belly", or if they think by being passive the left (both Dems and MSM) will leave them alone whatever the reason they are totally imasculating themselves and giving away all their power in the bargain. The Democrats are attacking them with everything from the trivial to the innane because they know the right will eagerly bend over, thank them and ask for another. Having a hostile press working against them ought to make Republicans all the more diligent in fighting back forcefully but the opposite is occuring.

Just in the last week we have Alberto Gonzales apologizing for firing 1/8th the FPs that Cinton did in his tenure. We have 2 weak sister Republicans at the Plame hearing meakly asking Valerie "how did that make you feel" questions. Every Republican on that committee should have been there unloading both barrels on that lying, manipulating agenda driven beotch.

The go along to get along has never worked with Democrats and it never will. Passividy is a sign of weakness and like with all bully's any sign of weakness elicits attack. If the right has lost their fire they better get it back because the Democrats haven't lost theirs. Republicans better start vigorously standing up and challenging every half a$$ed liberal assault aggresively, either that or get real content with permanent minority status.

Al-Qaeda guide in south Baghdad Ahmad Al-Janabi arrested

Another good catch.

An Iraqi moderate Sunni source confirms security reports that Ahmad Al-Janabi, Al-Qaeda guide in Latifiyya and Yusufiyah in south Baghdad, was arrested recently.

The source adds that Al-Janabi took part in battles in Afghanistan against the Russians before joining Al-Qaeda in Iraq against the Americans.

He maintains close relations with Saudi and Iraqi leaders in the Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
Before his arrest, he was urging the Islamic insurgency in Iraq to occupy some areas in south

Baghdad to take control of major roads to central and southern Iraq.

Skeptics Voted The Clear Winners In Global Warming Debate

In a fair honest discussion of the facts, Ms Dr. Heidi Cullen, Algore and the rest of the climofascist cabal will always lose.

Just days before former Vice President Al Gore’s scheduled visit to testify about global warming before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, a high profile climate debate between prominent scientists Wednesday evening ended with global warming skeptics being voted the clear winner by a tough New York City before an audience of hundreds of people.

Before the start of the nearly two hour debate the audience polled 57.3% to 29.9% in favor of believing that Global Warming was a “crisis”, but following the debate the numbers completely flipped to 46.2% to 42.2% in favor of the skeptical point of view. The audience also found humor at the expense of former Vice President Gore’s reportedly excessive home energy use.

Meanwhile it looks like "Mascara Boy" has chosen sides.

Thompson Run Could Change GOP Calculus

As we noted earlier, with Thompson in the race all bets are off.

If there was a candidate in the race who matched Ronald Reagan on the issues, it was George Allen, with his belief in economic freedom, his foreign policy hawkishness, and a social conservatism tempered by the Gipper’s leave-me-alone libertarian streak that many Republicans have seemingly abandoned.

2008 didn’t turn out to be Allen’s year, but the same perfect storm that could have made Allen formidable may just hit the race for the GOP nod with a vengeance if former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson decides to throw his hat in the presidential ring. Like Allen, Thompson brings to the table the position papers that would make Reagan crack a smile. But Thompson also exudes a Cheney-style gravitas that is complimented by a charm and warmth that the vice president has always lacked. As such, a Thompson run could prove very dangerous to the other candidates in the field and could shake up the entire topography of the race on the GOP side.

The boys over at RedState have posted a video of an interview with Sen. Thompson in which the former senator fleshes out some of his positions on the issues. Thompson’s articulation of a conservatism that we haven’t seen since the ‘94 revolution is refreshing after so many years of watching the GOP establishment pervert and contort conservatism into some sort of hybrid between ’60s Rockefeller Republicanism and the big government conservatism of continental European Christian Democrats. Thompson is pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, but he responds to questions on these issues in a pithy and straightforward manner, demonstrating that he has no plans to wear these positions on his sleeve in order to squeeze a few more votes out of southern Ohio. He talks a lot about federalism and believes that things like abortion laws and civil unions should be decided in the states and through the political process. He wants to finish the job in Iraq and seal the borders, but also admits that mistakes were made in the war and that it’s unfeasible to send 12 million people home. He is able to be simultaneously a social conservative and a libertarian, a man of principle and a pragmatist, something that very few can pull off, and talks policy in a very real-world, common-sense manner, allowing him to diffuse those positions that conservatives would normally find problematic. He also has just a touch of populism, which is evident from his reasoning behind his vote for McCain-Feingold, but again, so did Reagan.

The Fred Factor

School festival renames 'three little pigs' for fear of offending Muslims

The story of the Three Little Pigs' battle with the Big Bad Wolf has delighted children since it was written more than 150 years ago.

But the tale highlighting the merits of hardwork and practicality has become the latest to fall victim to political correctness.

A junior school production of the children's story has been renamed the Three Little Puppies for fear of offending Muslims.

Organisers of a children's music festival have altered the popular characters and lyrics because of the multi-cultural nature of the youngsters involved and their parents in the audience.

Aren't dogs considered unclean as well? Being good dhimmi is sooooo hard sometimes.

49 police officers killed in India

The Indian government suffers from the same delusion as we we under Clinton that this sort of thing is a law enforcement issue rather than a military one.

NEW DELHI, India - Communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said.

The pre-dawn attack Thursday was the latest in a series of increasingly bold assaults by the rebels, who have been fighting for more than two decades in central and eastern India's long-impoverished hinterlands.

Equipped with rifles, hand grenades and homemade petrol bombs, the insurgents appeared to have caught the 79 officers guarding the remote post by surprise, Swarnkar said. Another 12 officers were wounded in the attack.

The post is located in the state of Chattisgarh, nearly 930 miles southeast of New Delhi.

9/11 mastermind (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) confesses in Guantanamo

Now who in the press will be the first to report we tortured it out of him?

WASHINGTON - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the military.

Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning, financing, and training others for bombings ranging from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers

And from the MSM nothing but crickets.

The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed by the Multi-National Force-Iraq Combined Press Information Centre.

Only 17 members of the US military in Iraq have been killed since February 14 till March 13, compared to 42 from January 13 to February 13; the rate was on the decline during the first month of the security crackdown, compared to a month before.

Two of the 17 soldiers died at US Baghdad camps of non-combat causes.

The remarkable decrease in killings among the US troops came at a time when more of these troops were deployed in the Iraqi capital, especially in districts previously regarded as extremely hazardous for them such as Al-Sadr City, Al-Azamiyah, and Al-Doura.

Some Muslim workers at Target refuse to handle pork

I'm a reporter who covers Target for the Star Tribune and the other day, I got a call from someone who said that an employee at the Target store downtown refused to run his bacon through a scanning machine (Egad sounds painful!) He was mighty upset, arguing that the cashier had "no right to work as a cashier at Target" if she wasn't prepared to swipe his groceries.

But he was a little vague on the details, so I decided to check it out myself. At the Target store on E. Lake Street, a cashier wearing a hijab looked uncomfortable when I showed up at the cash register with a frozen pepperoni pizza. She immediately called for help, and another employee rang up the pizza and placed it in the basket.

I asked her if it was because she was Muslim, and she nodded her head. "I can't even touch it," she said.

Rosie Accuses Bush of Treason

From Human Events....

O’DONNELL: Alberto Gonzales he needs to be gone

SEN. SCHUMER: Called for it yesterday.

O’DONNELL: Do you think that anyone will call for the impeachment of George Bush in congress?

SEN. SCHUMER: Probably not. Because impeachment is when you've committed a crime.

O’DONNELL: Treason isn't a crime?

Evidently not Rosie, if it was over half of the House and Senate Democrats would be behind bars.

The Fred Factor

I have been curiously eyeing what appears to be something quite uncharacteristic in the Republican party, a grassroots uprising. In increasing number and intensity voices hereto silent are initiating petitions, writing letters and E-mails and eagerly readying their checkbooks. What you ask is causing such a stir in the normally reserved conservative ranks? The answer is Fred Dalton Thompson.

In an unprecedented show of spontaneous support many in the Republican base are bucking the conventional leadership and throwing their support in the direction of a potential nominee that isn't even a candidate. Despondent and disgruntled with the current slate of Republican contenders the great silent majority is choosing to be silent no more. The "hold your nose and pull the lever for the Republican" mentality is simply not going to suffice this time around.
It appears that with either Hillary or Obama likely to win the Democrat nomination, the stakes are just too great and Conservatives across the spectrum are just not willing to back another Bob Dole.

I've been watching Presidential election politics for longer than I care to remember and this is the first time I've seen this degree of blatant activism arising from the bowels of the collective conservative persona.... ever. In Thompson they see an ideological bretheren, a fiscal and social conservative, plain spoken, articulate and with genuine star power. They are really excited about this guy like I have'nt seen since Reagans second term and it's growing. Much of this is under the radar for all but political junkies like me who read hundreds of blogs everyday but make no mistake its there and it's real.

Personally I like Thompson, other than a few misteps his conservative bonafides are impeccable. His reserved plain spoken approach and thoughtful grand fatherly presentation elicits a sense of confidence and trust. My crystal ball tells me that in a debate he would make Hillary look like a shrill, angry b!tch and Obama a starry eyed schoolboy. His stage presence is formidable.

One things a given, if FDT gets into the race the dynamic will change overnight and in a big BIG way.

Anbar tribes kill 11 insurgents

Well, bless their little hearts......

Government media office issued a statement reporting that a group of Anbar tribes killed 11 insurgents including four emirs belonging to Al Qaeda Organization. In cooperation with Iraqi army and multinational forces, a group of Anbar tribes attacked caches of Qaeda insurgents in Juiba region in eastern Ramadi and arrested 16 insurgents and confiscated a car used by gunmen for criminal operations.

Sen. Hagel’s retirement a ‘distinct possibility’

One can only hope.

With Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) set to make an announcement about his political plans Monday, those close to Hagel and Nebraska politics say those plans could include his retirement from the Senate.

Top politicians in Nebraska are lined up should the potential presidential candidate retire. Hagel’s staff is mum on whether he will announce his Senate plans during the press conference, but whether he announces them Monday or later, retirement is on the table.

One prospective candidate, Republican former congressman and former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub, said he met with Hagel two months ago about Hagel’s political future and reported that his Senate plans are still unknown.

Look up the term RINO in the dictionary and you will find a picture of Chuck Hagel. My sense is he would get more votes in the Democrat primary then he ever would for the Republican nomination.

Germany's Schroeder slams U.S. missile shield plans

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. plans to build a high-tech missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic are dangerous and absurd, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Sunday.

"The missile defence system planned by the United States and which is to be installed in eastern Europe is politically extremely dangerous," Schroeder said in a speech in Dresden.

Herr Gerhardt one thing that is perfectly apparent to the vast majority of us paying attention is that you and your butt buddy Jacques are almost invariably WRONG. We all know how well your economic policies worked during your tenure. Now that the adults are in charge look what's happened...

Germans finding their own way back. German economy growing at 3.7% in 2006.

Ok boys and girls can we all say irrelevent?

Sunday Funny

Kurds Open to Coalition with Allawi, Fadhila

This would have huge ramifications...

Al-Hayat is reporting that Iraqi Kurds are considering abandoning their alliance with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shia-dominated coalition and instead forming a new coalition led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqi List and recently including the Shia Fadhila Party (“Inclusion of the Kurds in Allawi’s Coalition Depends on Its Success”).

Prominent Kurdish leader Mahmud Uthman told news agencies that the Kurds were interested “if it is confirmed that the coalition that Iyad Allawi is trying to form can bring together diverse parties capable of bringing about change in Iraq.” The article also noted that there was speculation that the new coalition was being supported by the United States, as U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Allawi together visited Kurdistan recently just as Fadhila was withdrawing from the United Iraqi Alliance.

An Honest Assessment?

Democratic strategist Bob Beckel admitted, in an interview on Fox News, that Fred Thompson for president would be their worst nightmare.

Normally the opinions of a Democrat strategist on a Republican candidate are worth squat but in this particualr instance Beckel may be calling it straight.

If you want to follow the latest on the possible FDT candidacy go here.

"The Great Global Warming Swindle" Video on Google

You can see it in it's entirety here. Be sure and watch the whole thing, it's well worth the time for climate infidels everywhere.

Kenyan police arrest key Al Qaeda suspect

Another good grab.

NAIROBI: The Kenyan police have arrested a man they believe to be a key Al Qaeda suspect who tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner and helped plan the simultaneous bombing of a hotel in 2002 that killed 15 people, officials said.

The man's identity was not immediately confirmed, but investigators said they believe he is Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior official in Kenya's security services told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the matter was classified.

Iraqi Security Forces: al-Qaeda leader captured (Updated & Bumped)

This is a big one folks.....

A suspected leader of the group Islamic State in Iraq, which has ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, was detained in northern Iraq on Sunday, Iraqi security forces reported. Muharib Mohammed Abdullah, aka Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, was arrested in a joint raid by Iraqi and US soldiers in the city of Duluiya.

"This is a great success for the Iraqi security forces, comparable to the killing of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi," the Salaheddin provincial administration in the town of Tikrit said in a statement.

Abdullah is a former legal expert from the city of Balad, north of Baghdad.

Bill Roggio has more.

Still working on confirmation.

Update: The MOI (Ministry of the Interior) now says Abdullah Latif al-Jaburi - aka Abu Abdullah - the #2 man of the Islamic State in Iraq - has been captured, not al-Baghdadi as initially reported.

UpdateII: Iraq Slogger Reports: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi "Apprehended"

Second Unconfirmed Report of Militant Leader's Capture in Two Days

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, chief of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq, has been captured, according to an unconfirmed report.

Buratha news reported Monday that "knowledgable sources" had informed the news agency of al-Baghdadi's capture in the Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, along with four others.

According to the sources, a formal announcement of al-Baghdadi's arrest will be issued in "the coming hours," Buratha reports.

Update III: Third times a charm Iraqs IM reports WE GOT HIM!

Baker confirms push for Thompson run

Appears that momentum may be building....

WASHINGTON — Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker Jr. said today he is urging his friend Fred Thompson to run for president and encouraging others to convince him.

Baker, R-Tenn., in a telephone interview with The News Sentinel, said: "I'm planting the seed that he might run or might be convinced to run." Baker also was White House chief of staff to President Reagan and most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Japan.

Thompson, 64, an actor on the TV drama "Law & Order" also was a Republican senator from Tennessee for eight years through 2002.

Baker said he's talked to Thompson about running for president. "He doesn't confirm that he's interested and he also doesn't tell me to stop," Baker said.

The Gathering of Eagles

March 17, 20077 AM to 4 PM The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, Washington D.C.

All you need to know is HERE.

This will be continually bumped untill the day of the event.

Dems Ignore Economy

February unemployment drops to 4.5% on an increase in nonfarm payrolls of 97,000. Aveerage hourly earnings gain a whopping .4% and export increases double imports.

Usual reax from the clinically depressed left, any good news which can't be spun negatively is simply ignored.

House Creates Global Warming Committee

Prepare yourself for 2 years of the most monumentally inane string of uninterupted dog and pony shows in the history of the US Congress.

(CNSNews.com) - As one of the top priorities on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) agenda, the House voted Thursday to create a select committee on global warming.

The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was passed by a bipartisan vote of 269 to 150.

In announcing her idea, Pelosi said, "Its purpose will be to communicate with the American people on this important issue. I promise to do anything in my power to achieve energy independence within ten years, stop global warming, and this select committee is to further those goals."

India swamps Japan to claim Asian top spot in billionaires list

The new economic powerhouses...

NEW YORK: The number of billionaires in China and India nearly doubled in the last year, pushing Japan from Asia's top spot for the first time in 20 years, according to Forbes Magazine's latest rich list.

"It was a sizzling year in Asia. Both India and China saw huge gains," said Forbes Associate Editor Luisa Kroll, who oversaw the report.

"After a 20-year reign at the top, Japan is no longer in Asia's top spot."

Democrats Want Iraq Pullout By Fall 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a direct challenge to President Bush, House Democrats unveiled legislation Thursday requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of next year.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the deadline would be added to legislation providing nearly $100 billion the Bush administration has requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's no challenge, it's blatant pandering to the moonbat base having absolutely 0 chance of going anywhere. They know it, the Republicans know it and anyone with half a brain knows it as well.

Missing Iranian spy chief 'defected to West' (Updated & Bumped)

The disappearance and defection of Ali Reza Azkari is Iran's worst nightmare. This guy knows where ALL the bodies are buried. WMDs, defense strategies, meddling in Iraq, this guy knows it all and will likely be only too happy to spill the beans.

A former Iranian spy chief was suspected last night of defecting to the West, raising the prospect of a timely intelligence bonanza amid tensions with Teheran.

While the speculation was impossible to verify, it is hard to imagine a more tantalising prospect for Western intelligence agencies than the defection of General Ali Reza Azkari, who is known to have served in Lebanon in the 1990s liaising with Hizbollah.

Skilful debriefing could shed important light on Iranian arms smuggling to the Shia militia, although he would also be pressed for secrets of Iran's nuclear programme.

Citing "informed sources", the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat said Gen Azkari had defected to the United States.

Update: Iranian General Reportedly Held in N. Europe

Unconfirmed reports now indicate that Gen. Ali Reza Asghari, the former Iranian Minstry of Defense official who disappeared in Istanbul in early February, is being interrogated in a northern European country while being processed for transfer to the United States.

Update II:Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence

A former Iranian deputy defense minister who once commanded the Revolutionary Guard has left his country and is cooperating with Western intelligence agencies, providing information on Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the organization, according to a senior U.S. official.

Ali Rez Asgari disappeared last month during a visit to Turkey. Iranian officials suggested yesterday that he may have been kidnapped by Israel or the United States. The U.S. official said Asgari is willingly cooperating. He did not divulge Asgari's whereabouts or specify who is questioning him, but made clear that the information Asgari is offering is fully available to U.S. intelligence.

This is the first confirmation of this we have gotten from the US government albeit anonymous.

Iyad Allawi and al-Dulaimi announce new non-sectarian coalition in Iraq

More important Iraqi developments the MSM chooses to ignore in favor of reporting suicide bombings and sectarian infighting.

Adnan Al-Dulaimi Accord Front yesterday announced the establishment of a new political front with the Iraqi List led by Iyad Allawi with the title (the Iraqi National Front).

Al-Dulaimi called for political groups from inside and outside the political process to join this front. Iraqi sources said that the National Dialogue Front led by Saleh Mutlaq and Reconciliation and Liberation Front headed paper Al-Jabouri, the Virtue Party within WIN the United Iraqi Alliance list headed by Abdul Aziz Hakim are in talks with the Front.

Iraqi National List (25 seats)
Iraqi Accord Front (44 seats)
National Dialogue Front (11 seats)
Reconciliation and Reconstruction list (3 seats)
Islamic Virtue Party (15 seats)
(98) TOTAL

This would be a formidable force in the Iraqi Parliament. If the IVP indeed joins Allawi the Shia bloc would still have the majority with 115 seats but the power they enjoy would be significantly reduced. It also places the Kurds in the enviable role of supreme arbiter.

Burqa-clad Taliban leader caught as NATO attacks

OK let's get this straight...Put panties on a muslim male prisoner very bad, male muslim puts on own panties, very good.

KABUL, March 7 (Reuters) - Afghan soldiers have captured a Taliban leader who tried to flee a security operation in the south dressed in a burqa, NATO said on Wednesday.

Tuesday's capture in Kandahar province came as NATO launched a major offensive in neighbouring Helmand to secure a key hydroelectric dam and combat the opium trade.

The man was named as Mullah Mahmood and described as an expert bomb-maker. U.S.-led coalition forces also detained five more suspected militants in eastern Khost this week.

Revenge of the Alumni

Remember this?

Alumni urge reversal on cross

College of William & Mary alumni are sending a simple message to the school's governing body: No cross, no cash.

They are encouraging the Board of Visitors (BOV), which meets tomorrow and Friday, to overrule college President Gene Nichol's October decision to remove a cross from the 313-year-old public college's Wren Chapel.

Any bets on whether the BOV reverses their position?

Update: Well as we predicted money talks and bullsh!t walks....

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A compromise announced today will permanently return a brass cross to the chapel at the College of William and Mary, several months after the president's decision to remove the cross caused an outcry.

Libby Guilty on 4 of 5 Counts

Libby guilty in CIA leak case

Washington - Former vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby was found guilty on Tuesday of four counts of lying, perjury and obstructing justice during an investigation tied to the Iraq war.

A win for out of control, over zealous prosecutors across the country.

This entire ordeal is really a sad commentary on our legal system A man gets convicted of a crime for lying about a peripheral fact about an underlying crime that never occured. He is likely facing jail time for something eminently trivial in the grand scheme of things yet Sandy Pants Burglar gets a slap on the hand for perpetrating something far more sinister.

Color me disappointed.

Global Warming Hits Brothels

No comment....

Brothel owners in Bulgaria are blaming global warming for staff shortages.

They claim their best girls are working in ski resorts because a lack of snow has forced tourists to seek other pleasures.

Petra Nestorova, who runs an escort agency in Sofia, said: 'We have hired students, but they are temps and nothing like our elite girls.'

Countryfied Hildebeast

You have to go here to listen to Hillary make an absolute a$$ of herself. I never thought I'd say this but I'm actually embarrassed for her.

The Great Global Warming Swindle set to rock climate debate

This is a must see by our friends in the UK. Considering that the only British television we see here in the states is on PBS, the chances of us ever seeing this are nil.

In a polemical and thought-provoking documentary, film-maker Martin Durkin argues that the theory of man-made global warming has become such a powerful political force that other explanations for climate change are not being properly aired.

The film brings together the arguments of leading scientists who disagree with the prevailing consensus that a 'greenhouse effect' of carbon dioxide released by human activity is the cause of rising global temperatures.

Instead the documentary highlights recent research that the effect of the sun's radiation on the atmosphere may be a better explanation for the regular swings of climate from ice ages to warm interglacial periods and back again.

The film features an impressive roll-call of experts, including nine professors – experts in climatology, oceanography, meteorology, environmental science, biogeography and paleoclimatology – from such reputable institutions as MIT, NASA, the International Arctic Research Centre, the Institut Pasteur, the Danish National Space Center and the Universities of London, Ottawa, Jerusalem, Winnipeg, Alabama and Virginia.

And this: Claude Allegre, one of France's leading socialists and among her most celebrated scientists, was among the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming. With a wealth of data now in, Dr. Allegre has recanted his views.

Somehow I doubt that Monsieur Allegre is on the payroll of "big oil".

Disney's Piglet banned in Middle East!

Oh Dear....

We flipped it ( Disney's "My Very First Encyclopedia with Winnie the Pooh and friends) open and noticed that some of the pages had been vandalised with a black marker. We figured it must have been bought and returned after some kids had got there hands on it. Further inspection made us realise that this was actually systematic. Someone had deliberately "censored" out each and every picture of Piglet from hundreds of pages in the book with a black marker (my guess is that the book got caught by Saudi Censors enroute to Doha).

Not an isolated incident.

It just dawned on me why hate is such an integral part of the Islamic religion...It's the only emotion strong enough to be capable of illiciting adherence to such irrational premises as this.

Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

Romney wins narrowly while Rudy Giuliani finishes a strong second:

Romney 21%

Giuliani 17%

Brownback 15%

Gingrich 14%

McCain 12%

Afghanistan: US forces attack suspected al Qaeda hideout

The chances are slim but hey, you never know.

For the past two days, U.S. and NATO forces have been conducting a major attack against a compound in a remote area of Eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden or another senior al Qaeda leader may be hiding, ABC News has learned.

According to eyewitnesses and local reporters in Kunar province, Coalition forces launched a fierce attack on a small enclave in the village of Mandaghel, approximately 17 miles from the border with Pakistan, on Friday afternoon. Warplanes pounded the positions ; U.S. special forces and Afghan National Army soldiers moved in shortly afterwards.

U.S. officials declined to identify who the operation was targeting, but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT) .

Antarctica?

Picture probably of somewhere in Canada, thanx to Tour Pro for the heads up.

U.S. strikes insurgents targeting helicopters

Good!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike killed senior insurgents suspected of targeting American helicopters in Iraq, and the Iraqi government said 39 militants had been killed in volatile western Anbar province in recent fighting.

The U.S. military said on Saturday the air strike took place on Friday north of Baghdad near the town of Taji, which is home to a major U.S. air base. It said weaponry, including a vehicle mounted with anti-aircraft artillery, was destroyed.

THOMPSON MAY RUN!

We at Opinipundit have been on board with Mitt Romney since the beginning. The possibility that former Senator Fred Thompson may run for the Republican nomination could very well cause us to reevaluate our position.

Stay tuned.

The camera loves him just about as much as it did RR.

And concerning his conservative bonafides.

CNN at it Again

Tks Texaggie79 at FR

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming

Has Al got a house there too?

Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human- induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.

Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.

In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

Not to mention the warming of Jupiter, Pluto and Titan

Mister Rogers saw it coming

What liberal parents fail to instill in their children, or even understand themselves for that matter, is the difference between self esteem and self respect.

A group of psychologists released a study this week that found today's college students are more self-centered and narcissistic than those of previous generations. In part, the researchers pointed to overindulgent adults for raising children to believe they are "special" no matter what they do.

Mister Rogers, of course, wrote the seminal song on this subject in 1967 -- the lyrics say "You are my friend, you are special."

The researchers didn't blame Mister Rogers in any way. But the late, great pioneer of developmentally appropriate children's television could see his message of love and acceptance being misinterpreted by a more indulgent society to mean "You are so special, you can do no wrong."

Senior Taliban leader held in Pakistan - sources

ISLAMABAD/KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have captured a high-ranking Taliban leader in the southwestern city of Quetta, a senior Pakistani security official and Taliban sources said on Thursday.

The capture of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund marked the first time Pakistan had arrested a senior leader of the Islamist militia since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001, and thousands of its fighters fled into Pakistan.

The security official, who requested anonymity, and the Taliban sources said Akhund, the third most senior member of the Taliban's 10-member leadership council, was arrested late on Monday, hours after a surprise visit to Pakistan by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Naked Principal Found With Sex Toys Watching Gay Porn In Office

A 50-year-old principal was found naked in his school office while watching gay pornography on Tuesday, according to sources. Sex toys were found nearby, the sources added.

Police said John Acerra was a longtime teacher and principal in the Bethlehem Area School District, but was also allegedly selling crystal meth out of his school office.

Yeah, sure, like everyone here hasn't! Just another example of the morality police foisting their evangelical religiofascist agenda on the people.

Iraq says police kill dozens of al Qaeda in Anbar

This sort of thing is the key to winning and it will ultimately succeed if we don't allow the left to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces killed dozens of al Qaeda militants who attacked a village in western Anbar province on Wednesday, during fierce clashes that lasted much of the day, police officials said on Thursday.

Sunni tribal leaders are involved in an escalating power struggle with Sunni al Qaeda for control of Anbar, a vast desert province that is the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said foreign Arabs and Afghanis were among some 80 militants killed and 50 captured in the clashes in Amiriyat al Falluja, a village where local tribes had opposed al Qaeda.

Filmmaker says he's discovered tomb of Jesus

More junk science....

With Lent under way and Easter looming came the timely announcement Monday from movie director James Cameron that he hopes to top his Oscar-winning feat of dredging up the Titanic by digging up the bones of Jesus and his family.

The pitch goes like this: Tune in at 9 p.m. Sunday to the Discovery Channel for "The Lost Tomb of Jesus: The One Revelation That Could Change Everything." You'll be so dazzled by "DNA analysis, forensics, archaeology and statistics" that you'll believe the tomb of Jesus and his family has been unearthed in Jerusalem. Then, you'll rush out to buy the new book and, soon, a DVD.