Moveon.org

vs Best of the Web, Army and Michelle Malkin.
See the pictures that started it all.
Moveon loses.

Spain and Venezuela

Spain is selling 12 military planes to Chavez. via Barcepundit and Stratfor.

(I hadn't heard of Stratfor before, but apparently they are "experienced executive team of intelligence experts and seasoned business leaders." Interestingly in their story they mention Bush's "bandwidth" 3 times. New term?)

End of tangent.....what is Spain looking to do here? Increase influence in SA by working with a guy who basically only has influence in Venezuela? I'm not thinking this makes much sense unless they see the wind shifting. I don't believe it is, though others have disagreed with me. Good luck with that, Spain.

New Iraqi Blog

Talisman Gate with a post on a not so funny cartoon from the Washington Post.

Steyn

On London, the Olympics, taxes a lot of things.

Also this quote which should have gone along with yesterday's post in regards to Kyoto.

"Canada remains fully committed to its obligation to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by six per cent of its 1990 figure by 2008.

That's great to know, isn't it? So how's it going so far?

Well, by the end of 2003, Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions were up 24.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, how are things looking in the United States? As you'll recall, in a typically "pig-headed and blinkered" (Independent) act that could lead to the entire planet becoming "uninhabitable" (Michael Meacher), "Polluter Bush" (Daily Express), "this ignorant, short-sighted and blinkered politician" (Friends of the Earth), rejected the Kyoto treaty. Yet somehow the "Toxic Texan" (everybody) has managed to outperform Canada on almost every measure of eco-virtue."

Go Joe!

My hero. Joe Lieberman.

"I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn"

Kyoto

Most people don't have a clue how our government works. In Montreal right now, is the UN Climate Control Conference where apparently the first hours were spent dissing Bush for not signing Kyoto. via Yahoo News.
1) Clinton may have signed but Congress never did so it didn't count anyway.
2) Bush didn't sign because a) he knew congress wouldn't and b) because "Economists from the Clinton White House now concede that complying with Kyoto’s mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases would be difficult – and more expensive to American consumers than they thought when they were in charge." This change in tune from the Clintonites is part of the reason that Bush decided to reject Kyoto.

In the meantime, greenhouse gas numbers are going down in the US due to things like offshoring of industry, and new diesel emission rules implemented by Bush. (Imagine if the offshoring were due to the fact that we DID sign this treaty.)
Yet, New Zealand gets fined according to the rules of Kyoto. And it's suggested that they even build a big dam for clean energy consumption!

The treaty is flawed, so we didn't sign it.

Statistics and Body Counts

Logic Times has taken the number of civilian casualties in Iraq and added some statistical analysis to come up with some amazing figures.
(via Barcepundit) Our military is incredible. I thought that before and these numbers only enhance that thought.

Syria to cooperate with Investigation

Excellant.

From Amarji:

"Far from being a success for Syrian diplomacy and brinksmanship, the decision reflects the helplessness of the Syrian regime and the increasing desperation of its leaders."

Vietnam

Will it ever be over? David Horowitz regrets his protest years and wishes more people would have spoken up to say he needed an arse kicking.

Civilian Rules of Conduct

From A Soldier's Perspective. You have to appreciate the clarity! lol
(h/t The Right Place)

Keeping an eye on Latin America

Dr. Demarche is now writing over at "American Future". I knew there were a number of elections coming up down south, but there are 12. Including Mexico.

Of his lessons to learn:

"Second, we should seriously re-examine the ideals behind the Monroe Doctrine – not because they are wrong, but because it is possible that something very similar might easily emerge in reference to Iraq. The abandoning of Latin America by Europe guaranteed failure for generations to come. We must not follow that path once the enemy in Iraq has been defeated.

When the war ends, and Iraq is able to defend herself against the “insurgent” and Baathist holdouts she will need the support of the world to heal and emerge as an independent nation. For the U.S. (or the U.N) to say “hands off” after the war would be to condemn Iraq to the fate of post colonial Latin America. I am not referring to the internal government of Iraq, which should be left to the people, I am referring to access to markets. I realize that it will sting to allow nations who not only failed to aid in the establishment of a free Iraq , but who benefited illegally under oil-for-food and actively opposed the fight, to profit from the successful conclusion of the effort, but the victory will not be complete until Iraq has joined the modern world and market place.

We have been accused of imperialism and Empire building by those who know the game the best- the former rulers and exploiters of most of the world. We must be sure to avoid bequeathing the same fate to the Iraqis that they left to their former colonies; the current situation in Latin America provides the best lesson “Old Europe” can teach us. The question is- are we paying attention?"

Steyn

Speaking of Hollywood.

New movie

While awaiting King Kong, we can also all get excited about this! Bruce Willis is going to make a movie based on Michael Yon's reporting!

Recent Casualties

Have been up, but mainly because of the successful offensive in the Anbar Province.

700 terrorists dead
1500 captured.

Iraqi Views of Toughness

They'd rather we were tougher.

From the Washington Post. "BAGHDAD -- The leader of Iraq's most powerful political party has called on the United States to let Iraqi fighters take a more aggressive role against insurgents, saying his country will only be able to defeat the insurgency when the United States lets Iraqis get tough."

Iraq the Model is seeing violence as the elections get closer.

Torture

What is your stance? I lean towards Krauthhammer's view and I definitely don't like the resolution that went on where we leave those in the field to decide what's ok or not while in the meantime we make it illegal in all circumstances.

This is creepy

I remember those days in the 70s but seeing this map with mushroom clouds all over Europe is creeepy.

Tricky Politics

from the CA conservative. This is hilarious about the gyrations the poor Democrats have to go through, since they haven't a clue how the war is going to look next year or in 2008.
Perhaps if they HELPED the effort, they would have a better clue. We'd win, we'd reduce troop numbers, the news would focus on things like Katrina and the Supreme Court. Bush could look bad and then they could win. Just a thought.

ps - too much company for much blogging since Wednesday. Have a nice weekend if I don't get back to it!

This sounds worthwhile

The NYTimes has 10 years worth of coverage on Sadaam and Iraq. I'll get to it later, but the Daily Demarche's recap makes it sound like it will be worth the time.

Iraq and Katrina

Iraq's Red Crescent donates to Katrina victims.
These guys have the potential to be great allies - if you can keep the politician's out of it. (see previous post)

Politics in Iraq

They must be getting good at this democracy thing in Iraq because they are starting to make up statements in order to make everyone happy. In Cairo we have Iraq's Sunni, Shiite, Kurd and Christian leaders agreeing to this statement:

" The leaders also agreed that there should be a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and resistance was the right, but acts of terror should be condemned."

Rice has decided to read this as "denouncing terrorism". Huh?
The "resistance" is using terrorism as a weapon. And what are they resisting? Democracy? And that's ok? Or just the "occupation"? Haven't we been asked to stay there on more than one occasion by the leaders? Yes.
If "resisting" means blowing up US soldiers who have been invited to stay to help keep "the resistance" in line, then we might as well go home. If they (Iraqi politicians) want to live this way, where people who don't approve of the govt, blow people up then our work is done there. Because frankly, "the resistance" is mainly blowing up women and children.

Syria

Are we there? I've searched and can't find info from a solid source yet, but will keep looking? Help please?

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving post from Christopher Hitchens.

Timetables

Yeah. What he said in regards to "the plan". Of course there's a plan.

(I wish I could write - instead, let me just connect you)

"The United States doesn’t deploy hundreds of thousands of troops and equipment into a foreign country, get there and say “what do we do now?” Everything done in the military is a “mission”. A truck driver delivering fuel is on a specific “mission”. Missions performed, are the “execution of a plan”. Everything an individual soldier does goes towards the execution of the “overall “plan. Soldiers do not do anything on their own, they are instructed to do so and that instruction originates from the top and from the “overall” plan or objective."

Jihadi Leader Surrenders

In Israel. via Captain's Quarters.

"The Admiral Emeritus once told me that the definition of disillusionment was watching your martial-arts instructor get his ass kicked in a country-western bar. Having one's commander surrender to the enemy when he and his ilk have sent dozens to kill themselves just to take out a few women and children in buses and pizzerias has to come in at least a close second on that scale."

Kerrying

vs Swift Boating. From John O'neil.

Steyn

and the Arab Street

Leaving Iraq

Iraq the Model says that a time table is coming soon.

Read it. A reasoned discussion about pull out without any "we must be out now" screaming.
(all this hoopla and weren't we all expecting some sort of something AFTER the elections in December?? Everyone just HAS to get ahead of the "pull out" so they can say later: "I made certain that our troops were coming home soon.")

Al-qaeda

Moving operations to Afghanistan. Do you suppose they are losing in Iraq?

MSM

caught in the act by a teenager.

Elections

In Bosnia! After 10 years. Shouldn't we have been protesting? You know, quaqmire and all.

Medicare Drug Plan

They interviewed a woman on ABC news last night who "still hadn't signed up" because it was too difficult. Then they talked about how pharmacists aren't allowed to recommend any plan specifically and why. (That way they can't recommend the plan that will earn them the most $$. Makes sense to me.)
Then they showed the call centers that are allowed to help and all the people staffing them.
And finally they showed the website that they then noted most seniors won't use because they are not internet savvy. (Yet they gave no indication that this is a long term project and those of us who DO use the internet regularly will one day be old with any luck.)

They neatly wrapped up the story by going back to the woman who still hadn't signed up because it was too difficult.
And yet they never said why. She was a smart woman in her early 70s. What happened when she called the 1800 number? Did they not help? I don't know. She didn't say. Did she try the website? I don't know, she didn't say. She never said why it was too tricky.

Perhaps there are too many choices - that must be it. So lets remove all the choices and tell people that to get the coverage they have to buy from Kaiser. That'll be a good move. And we'll all just agree to that plan. And Blue Cross won't have a problem with that either I'm sure. Seriously, what did this woman want? Someone to tell her which company to use. Well, no matter what company she uses, she'll probably be saving money, so sign up for one that actually sells the prescriptions she uses. If she researched further she may save another $10/month, but frankly, I'd probably save money if I were willing to shop for auto insurance every month. Instead, I just stick with my guy and leave it at that. Am I not right??
Here's one editorial on it that seems to agree on the bottom line anyway.

UPDATE: Just to clarify $10/month adds up and not everyone can afford to not shop for the best deal. But a lot of people can and do. Also, the website isn't pretty. It has none of the style of a number of better websites out there. It all looks confusing. I'm just saying, so what? Take a deep breath, work it through and sign up! Or not. Its up to you!

White Phosphorus

Jeff Goldstein on the latest. Thanks Jeff.

"In Kos’s world, there is no difference between US military and the regime of Saddam Hussein—between humiliation and rape rooms ; between the sanctioned use of WP against entrenched terrorists and the use of nerve agents and WP on Kurdish civilians; between fighting to free a people and fighting to keep them subjugated.
Such moral relativism is not clever or nuanced, though it likes to pretend to be. Instead, it is obfuscatory for the sake of personal aggrandizement: Kos and his ilk like to play as the conscience of the country, but what they are, really, are the kinds of intellectually feeble brats who have come to take for granted the very system they hope to tear down."

Every step counts

Muslim Moderates helping to not spread propoganda in England.

Book for Christmas?

Facts at your fingertips.

Bush Doctrine

view from Canada.

France

and assimilation of immigrants. via RhineRiver via Instapundit

Trouble on the Border

Michelle Malkin found this story that I hadn't heard of yet.

From the El Paso Times:

"Pot-laden truck creates armed standoff"

Lileks

on a Vonnegut interview where he openly admires suicide bombers:

"But in discussing his views with The Weekend Australian, Vonnegut said it was "sweet and honourable" to die for what you believe in, and rejected the idea that terrorists were motivated by twisted religious beliefs."

The Dan Rather Memos

Powerline has a link to Buckhead who gives his side of the story and how he knew those memos were fake. Basically because:

"So, how did I know?

The short answer is that I am 47 years old and I am not a blithering idiot.

A more elaborate answer is this:....."

read on.

This Steyn Post deserves it's own spot

re the Senate vote on an exit strategy.
(ps this link can be seen below too)

Just a bunch of links (Steyn included)

Because frankly I'm too tired for commentary.
Austin Bay and comments from troops in Iraq.
Powerline "the war in Iraq is steadily being won"
Tim Blair is too funny.
Dr. Helen on polical correctness.
Mark Steyn and the Senate's exit strategy.

Views on the Murtha Res. (both) from

Iraq and our military. Just fyis

Iraq the Model
Raed wants us out and figures all the compensation money we'll have to pay for illegal occupation will help.
from Will Whitley via Mudville Gazette
from David MacDonnell via the Mudville Gazette

Good news from the Middle East

The BBC has the Economic Intelligence Units Index of Political Freedom.
Guess who's moved up?

"BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says there is unquestionably a new mood in the region, but progress has been uneven."

Murtha Resolution

I thought it was a great idea until I got home and saw the debate on CSPAN. You'd think a smart reasoned debate could be seen in the house. You know, where you calmly point things out and try to be respectful to people you clearly don't have respect for. No name calling or making chicken noises in the background. Sheesh. They blew it. I think this: ".. state the resolution in the affirmative? " We pledge to deploy troops in Iraq until the mission of liberation, freedom and democracy is satisfactorily completed." And why not seek to gain as much bi-partisan political support as possible? This would truly help the mission, and the troops." would have been smarter. Oh well, too late for that.

'Calling their bluff' is what I do. (which is why I was filled with glee when I first saw the Drudge report about the debate) But I'm just a crank with a blog, not a representative of 1000s. Stopping and discussing and asking respresentatives to stand up and be counted so that the troops can know with certainty that they are supported is what needs to happen.

Kos* is now repeating the " they won't let us speak our minds without calling us unpatriotic" and Bush said that "we shouldn't question or else we're unpatriotic" and frankly, listening to CSPAN definitely left you with that impression.

How about a simple....when did the President say it was unpatriotic to question his policies?
And
Since we all agreed in 2002 that there were WMD but now we just can't agree on whether it was because Bush lied or because everyone (including Saddam) was misled, now lets talk about where we go from here.
Or even
What do you say we all sleep on this until after the December elections?
Time for bed and no more actually watching the house in action on TV.

*UPDATE: Meant to add a link to Kos. Here it is.

Democratizing Iraq

via the Wall Street Journal

Democratizing Iraq is where the hedge has been placed against Islamic extremism's proven compulsion to annihilate civilian populations -- with airliners, humans as bombs and assuredly any WMD they can get -- each weapon as morally repugnant as the next. Yes, Iraqi democratization may not work. But it is a bet worth making. As former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Fred Ikle wrote on this page not long ago, "The paroxysm after 9/11 would be a hiccup compared with the reaction the morning after one or more nuclear bombs caused massive devastation."

Against this, the current opposition spectacle in Washington is not edifying. How did it come to pass that an opposition's measure of a president's foreign policy was all or nothing, success or "failure"? The answer is that the political absolutism now normal in Washington arrived at the moment -- Nov. 7, 2000 -- that our politics subordinated even a war against terror to seizing the office of the presidency.

The winning of the Cold War was bipartisan. The winning of the war on terror is open to question, every hour.

War in Iraq

What exactly is going on now that has made people think its time to give up on Iraq? They are voting in less than a month!! You'd think people could wait until then to cut and run. Is it because the President is out of the country? Is it because the election is so close and if something goes wrong they'll be ahead of the game, while if things go right people won't remember anyway?

In the past few weeks Arabs have started speaking out against terrorists and their methods. (see Amman) Isn't the writing starting to be on the wall? It was still the right thing to do, but only if we finish the job. Can't we wait until after the elections, please??

John Murtha via protein Wisdom
Scott McClellen on his speech via protein wisdom

Torture in Iraq

I'm a half full kind of gal, so while the torture going on in detention centers by Iraqis isn't good, the democracy used to find out about it and expose it, is. via Iraq the Model

"Keeping an eye to prevent such atrocities is rather difficult but at least having an opposition guarantees that that when they happen, there will be people to expose them, speak out and demand justice and this incident proved that democracy and freedom of speech are the real protectors of the people and not this minister or that official."

How did this all work out in Saddam's days again?

Kyoto

Bin Laden wants us to sign the Kyoto treaty. Well in that case....
While we're at it, we can

put " an end to women's photos in newspapers or advertising."

also,

"Any woman serving "passengers, visitors and strangers" would also be out of a job." I wonder where that leaves those 72 virgins?

President Bush

Has a ton of class. That amendment that passed on Tuesday (while he was out of the country!) was enough to get me to write both my senators. (see Varifrank for a recap.) The President, however, has taken it how it was meant to be taken (as seen through rose colored glasses).

A reminder to him to update everyone's constituents with how things are going in Iraq, because voters are beginning to listen to other sources since the good news hasn't been coming out of the White House.

ps Has anyone else noticed that people's perceptions of the war (as told by the media) has gone downhill ever since Mr. Chrenkoff retired?

The Internet

So far so safe from the UN. via Barcepundit

Hanging the Troops

Over white powder.

From the Environmental Republican, this great intro:
*During the Vietnam War, the left used the My Lai incident to turn the tide of public opinion. The mistakes of a few became a burden on the entire military. As a result, the returning soldiers were literally and figuratively spit on as were the memories of those who died.

They tried this again during the Abu Ghraib scandal and continue to use that incident as a club against the military.

Now they have a new "scandal", the supposed use of chemical weapons against the enemy. Keep in mind, the chemical weapon they are using--as described in this previous post--is not banned by any treaty.*

See Military.com too.

Congradulations to OSM

(formerly known as Pajamas Media) and Roger Simon as they had their launch yesterday.

Campaigning????

What on earth is he trying to accomplish?? "Clinton says Iraq invasion was a big mistake"

We already have one Jimmy Carter.

Senate Vote on Troop Reduction

Varifrank gives them a scolding. The disrespect those people are showing for the Iraqi's is baseless and tasteless.

Amen to every word he writes.

Women in Afghanistan

Women won almost a third of the seats in parliament even though it was just a quarter that were specifically saved for them. via Michelle Malkin

Every one of these women are incredibly brave people.

The White House Standing up for itself

against the NYTimes.

General Good News

Zarqawi's hometown has had enough. via Powerline and the New York Sun. Oh and Hillary doesn't blame the current President for the attacks in Jordan.

Saudi Arabia enters the World Trade Organization by ending it's boycott of Israel. via Roger Simon and the Washington Times. (ps, while you're there, click on the previous post at the top. "Vanity Fact-Checking at Vanity Fair)

Trends

I read this story yesterday and couldn't help but think that as a youth, a rebellious youth, the last thing I would want to do is join a movement that comes out with videos called
"Sheikh Osama's Training Course" and "Are you ready to die?"

I know this isn't funny but doesn't it kind of sound like the Jihadi's may have lost their "cutting edge"? (assuming that was a draw to start with)

France

Job training for 50,000 disaffected immigrant youths out of an immigrant population of 5million and unemployment in the double digits. That will help.
Actually I mainly wanted to link to the Captain because I can't figure out how to get a permalink to the Day by Day cartoon today. He's got it, and it's a crack up.

UPDATE: Remember this?

The Bird Flu

You know, we're all going to die! Of something.

Iraq the Model

Happy Birthday Guys! (or is it Happy Blogiversary?!)

The White House Standing up for itself

Another speech from the President. This time in Alaska at Elmendorf.
And here's a direct response to the Washington Post in regards to the President's daily brief vs the National Intelligence Estimate seen by Congress.

Enough really was enough.

One more

Michael Yon and Bruce Willis interview by Rita Cosby. From The Corner. (page down past the picture)

Sheesh

Ok - now I'm getting to be late gettin around, but here's a couple of examples of Turkeys you might want to read about as we get to the holidays.
Sen. Obama from The Corner:

"The professional grievance industry and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) are up in arms because Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) had the temerity to say that “discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states” was warranted in the visa-awarding process. "

and

The Australian MSM. Read the whole thing but here's the quote Tim Blair picked up on:

"On Tuesday, November 1, senior cabinet ministers convened for a hastily called meeting of the national security committee of cabinet. Most there did not know what the meeting was for and heard for the first time the disturbing intelligence on terrorist plans in Australia. It was a deliberately restricted meeting, with fewer officials than normal in attendance. Senior ministers were shocked and startled by what they were told. The NSC discussed the proposed legal amendments with the relevant legal experts. The next steps almost dictated themselves: brief Opposition leader Kim Beazley and the relevant premiers, some of whom already knew some of the information from their own police.

What happened next was incredible. Half the media, especially the ABC, and a good portion of the intellectual class, as well as the minor parties, immediately decided that John Howard had concocted the whole thing as a stunt to distract attention from the industrial relations legislation. This is almost too insane to admit to the mainstream of discussion but it was almost the orthodoxy last week."

Response to the Bush smackdown

via Captain's Quarters

The Captain responds to a response and makes a very good point:

Rockefeller: "I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq – that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11."

Captain Ed: "Now, what the hell was Rockefeller doing revealing his analysis of American foreign policy and the direction of war strategy to Bashar Assad??"

Iraq

Austin Bay gives us a win with the Arab Street now sounding out against terrorism.

What exactly does John Edwards think is going to happen between now and 2008 that is going to make this column in the Washington Post get him new recruits?
Here's the California Conservative's take on it.

Bush Derangement Syndrome

You know it's all Bush's fault.

Sunday Post

The loss of a young boy in Iraq. As told by Chaplain Carlos C. Huerta at the National Review Online.
There is nothing fun in this re-telling. However, the statement below is.. .very touching:

" I thought to myself, isn’t this the kind of world we are fighting for — a world where an Imam teaches a Rabbi words from the Holy Koran to comfort a young Muslim boy, and that rabbi himself is comforted by a Christian, a Catholic priest."

Sistani

Is a class act. From Iraq the Model:


"In an important step towards more credible and fair elections, senior cleric Ali al-Sistani announced through his office that he will refrain from receiving any of the political leaders running for office in the next elections and will reject the many requests made by many Iraqi politicians. "

Need to get that paperwork going

to change parties.

Excuses, excuses for Jordan bombs

Yeah, keep on talking Mr(s) Al-qaeda.

Pentagon Papers

Wouldn't these be interesting stories, if he could get the papers released?

Pro or Anti, check out some of the titles of these source materials:

1. Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) Correspondence to Iraq Embassy in the Philippines and Iraq MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
2. Possible al Qaeda Terror Members in Iraq
3. IIS report on Taliban-Iraq Connections Claims
4. Money Transfers from Iraq to Afghanistan
5. IIS Agent in Bulgaria
6. Iraqi Intel report on Kurdish Activities: Mention of Kurdish Report on al Qaeda--reference to al Qaeda presence in Salman Pak
7. IIS report about the relationship between IIS and the Kurdish Group Jalal Talibani [sic]
8. Iraqi Mukhabarat Structure
9. Locations of Weapons/Ammunition Storage (with map)
10. Iraqi Effort to Cooperate with Saudi Opposition Groups and Individuals

Bush's Speech more

From Polipundit on his timing. He often doesn't get credit where credit is due and his thinking here, if following her logic makes sense.

UPDATE:
She connects to the Shape of Days and it's worth a read too.

Mark Steyn

On demographics.

The Rat

Remember him? Dead.
Confirmed dead.

"Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the last senior member of Saddam Hussein’s regime still at large, died today, according to a statement released by the ousted Baath Party."

Bush's Speech

Can be found here. He takes those "Bush Lied, People died" people to task and now opinions are rampant out there.
Mine - I loved the speech. Every last bit, but particularly this.
"It is deepy irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war [to liberate Iraq] began."

For many, many roundups and linkages:
Instapundit original and response to his critics
Powerline
Jeff Goldstein

There are enough links up there to keep a person busy for hours if you'd like.

Thank you Veterans

Have a Great Veterans Day.

Veterans Day is for honoring all these brave young people who are the vanguards of freedom for this generation, as well as to honor those who suffered similarly in previous generations. Take a moment to remember the sacrifices they will have to live with -- God bless them.
(from Kevin Vargas in the Washington Post today)

(updated spelling)

Emissions in the US

Someone ought to take credit for emissions in the US going DOWN over the last two years. Even if it's just happenstance.

Mr. President?
(this is another spot where he should be grabbing credit when he can. ie remember the diesal legislation? )
Ok then - I will. In the last 2 years I've bought a smaller car, walked to more places and bought a new furnace. (all because the price of gas has gone up in that same time frame! Supply/demand, price goes up, demand goes down.)

I just like this piece.

Varifrank has a long post on his "Profits of Doom" fantasy library. Who doesn't like a good end of the world story?

The piece is long, so if you don't have the time just jump to the first comment at the bottom. You'll get the gist.

France

They are no longer front page news but the riots are continuing. Captain Ed has the updates from Thursday night's increase in violence.

The WMD Lie?

Powerline links to the original memorizable talking points from Norman Podhoretz, the counterpoint and the countercounterpoint.

heh wait....I wonder if 1.77 tons of enriched uranium counts as weapons of minor destruction? Memories via Vodkapundit

Oil Companies

I hate news articles like this: (copied in part from the Conservative Grapevine)

Excerpt Of The Day: The Ridiculousness Of A Windfall Profits Tax On Oil
"Of course, the oil companies have made a lot of profit lately, but so have many other businesses and industries. Although Exxon got big headlines for earning $9.92 billion in the third quarter, few analysts bothered to note that this only came to 9.8 cents per dollar of sales — well below that of many other companies. For example, Citigroup and Microsoft each made 33.2 percent profit. " -- Bruce Bartlett

While I don't necessarily think that oil companies should not be making windfall profits it's the news article with the numbers that is all screwy.

"Exxon made 9.8cents per dollar of sales, but Citigroup and Microsoft made 33.2% profit."

Lets try getting some apples to apples.

The BBC has Exxon increasing their profit by 75% profit.
CNNMoney shows Citigroup's profit up by 35% .
And finally the NYTimes has Microsoft's profit increasting by 24%.

Therein lies the actual news and why people are SO upset with oil companies!

Some Kurds

Send their regards.

Press Conference

Of Senators and bloggers. This has got to be a first and includes some of the best bloggers out there. All in regards to the military and getting an alternative view of the war vs the msm.

Michael Yon, independent civilian military blogger, http://michaelyon.blogspot.com

Bill Roggio, independent civilian military blogger, http://www.billroggio.com

Steve Schippert, independent civilian military blogger, http://wordunheard.com

Andi Carol, independent civilian military blogger, http://andisworld.typepad.com

Imaginings

Imagine you're in Iraq with real day to day problems of terrorists and you read about the riots in France. Now read Iraq-the-Model trying to make sense of these goings on in France.

Sadaam's Lawyers

The other day I wrote about Sadaam's lawyers getting murdered and why didn't people just think.

Well - I'm a bit of a linear thinker (in other words, I think, therefore I err lol).....moving on to someone who does think. neo-neocon considers who would actually benefit from these lawyers getting killed.

White Phosphorus

Jeff Goldstein gets going on a good rant here today in regards to telling lies often enough that people eventually think they're true. I had to laugh at the poll on yesterday's news:

"New NBC poll just out says 57% think BUSH intentionally misled Americans in the run up to the Iraq war."

No note that it isn't true. Remember all those polls about people who believe Sadaam was to blame for 911 and how stupid Americans were? Those polls pointed out that it wasn't true! sheesh

Vodkapundit

And his debut. He made Michael Barone's column. If you haven't read Will's post, it's worth the time.

Chavez is a loon

Salon Blogs recaps the latest where he insults President Fox for being a lapdog to the US. Way to rally Latin America to your side dude!
(via Instapundit

Saudi

talking points for the Rice visit, via The Religious Policeman.

France

More thoughts on the riots and comparing US thoughts (Broken window theory and welfare reform) vs French. From Ragged Thots.

Syria

Sending signs of cooperation via The Big Pharaoh. (no links in English....)

Race problems

here and in France. From New Sisyphus. I don't know anything about French regulations/laws/taxes/ or even higher education, and how all of that potentially equates to youth with no hope, but am learning bit by bit.
The piece above was interesting in regards to keeping things white in France.

White Phosphorus

The next big thing via Environmental Republican and the BBC.

Get your facts now before the "shaming" commences.

from the Environmental Republican:
"White phosphorus is not banned by any treaty. The United States retains its ability to employ incendiaries to hold high-priority military targets at risk in a manner consistent with the principle of proportionality that governs the use of all weapons under existing law. The use of white phosphorus or fuel air explosives are not prohibited or restricted by Protocol II of the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention (CCWC), the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects .

White phophorus is used by every country for weapons purposes."

Just great

This story makes you go, "why don't people know better than to do this??"

A lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants has been shot dead in the Iraqi capital Baghdad while another has been injured, police sources say.

Paris

From Jeff Goldstein
"Build a socialist society, and you can bet your fromage those living there are going to start upping their demands."

From Mark Steyn
"In fact, "rage" seems the least of it: it's the "glee" and "contempt" you're struck by."

From VariFrank
"And while it may be fun to poke at the French, this is not the time. If the Muslim Insurrection is seen to be successful in achieving its goals, it will spread everywhere. "

From Captain Ed
"However, alert CQ reader Mr. Michael points out that both American and French media sources warned of coordinated Islamist action against France in the weeks before the riot."

The Truth Laid Bear is keeping up with a roundup of blogs.

War on Terror

Instapundit has two links here that are both deserving of being read. Stephen's we've been waiting for for a long time and it was well worth it!
I don't buy either's opinions fully (a-I think the msmedia loses power every day even though this President doesn't really handle them well and b-I don't think more bureaucracy is ever a good answer) and if I had any real knowledge of war might try my own hand at the essay. Don't hold your breath though!

Women and Heart Disease

Dr. Helen, the young and fit Dr. Helen, had a heart attack. Read about her symptoms.

Just for fun

I haven't personally clicked on any of the links, but will go ahead and pass along these rumors from a new book out re liberal hypocrisy. The book is 'Do as I say, (Not as I do): Profils in Liberal Hypocrisy' by Peter Schweitzer.
(ht: Barcepundit)

Speaking of which, from NRO comes this little bit about the NY Civil liberties union.

"NYCLU: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO [Andy McCarthy]
The best buried story of the week comes to us from the editorial page of the New York Sun:

Hypocrisy is on show in a Manhattan courtroom today. The New York Civil Liberties Union will argue for the second day before Judge Richard Berman that the city's subway bag search policy is an "unjustifiable erosion of the privacy rights of the American public." Yet take a walk into the NYCLU's Manhattan headquarters - which it shares with other organizations - and you'll find a sign warning visitors that all bags are subject to search. One of the city's lawyers, Jay Kranis, pointed this out yesterday in court while cross-examining a witness. Either the NYCLU believes its headquarters are at greater risk of a terrorist threat than the city's subway system, or it believes ordinary New Yorkers don't deserve the same safety precautions that they do."

Protecting Bloggers

People are spending time in jail, Omar has information about who to contact.

Iraq

And dealing with the Syrian border problem. With help from Iraqis!

Background Check

Twenty years of background on the Islamic poor in France. by Stephen Schwartz. (ht: Instapundit)

"The French and British have deliberately ignored many opportunities to rationally deal with the issues posed by Euro-Islam. If they had perceived, as some of us did, that a prosperous Bosnia could be a center for moderate Islam in Europe, and would help defuse the social appeal of radical Islam, they might have built up Bosnia. They did not. They contributed to the destruction of Bosnia and then forced the handover of Bosnia and Kosovo to the UN, which has allowed the Balkan Muslim lands to degenerate into economic slums on international welfare. Luckily for "Christian Europe" (a term grossly insulting to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, as well as the Balkan wars), the Bosnians in particular have proven more stoic than the new generation of Arab and Black African youths of the Parisian suburbs.

But to finally emphasize, the French heritage -- which to me has come to mean nothing more than compulsory secularism, extreme statism, and extraordinary narcissism, and which I first saw up close 26 years ago -- may have begun to disappear in the fires of the former "red belt." What will replace it? Who knows? Some of "Christian Europe" seems to me intellectually, spiritually, and morally dead. How I wish it were not so."

Steyn

On the riots in France. (I suppose if these keep going on, I better start looking into them....stay tuned for more info)

Argentina Trip

First off, (re the NYTimes) this was not "one of the worst weeks of his presidency". (maybe last week, but not this) and well, what bad reporting. Lets write this story about the "power to the people loony" Chavez, along with the evil Bush who's avoiding questions about Karl Rove because we know Bush is EVIL. President Bush has serious class.
Chavez is like a gnat who pretends he's got something important that we want enough to bully our way in. The problem is, like the middle east, he's creating the 'it's the USA's fault' idea in everyone's head. Poverty, blame the US. Storms, blame the US. Israel, blame the US. This sort of paradigm sadly ends up with little Osamas. Only this time they'd be in our hemisphere.
Powerline has pictures.

VDH

A nice re-cap of the Bush Doctrine for a Friday.

"Much is made of global anti-Americanism and hatred of George Bush. But under closer examination, the furor is mostly confined to Western Europe, the autocratic Middle East, and our own elites here at home. In Europe, our most vocal critics, Jacques Chirac in France and Gerhard Schroeder in Germany, have lost considerable domestic support, and are under challenge by realists worried about their own unassimilated minorities and appreciative of American consistency in the war against radical Islam. In the meantime, Eastern Europeans, Japanese, Australians, and Indians have never been closer to the United States. Russia and China have little beef with our war on terror."

Venezuela

You just knew that Chavez was a great leader eh? Hiding bombers from Spain now.

Powerline

Just read Powerline today, like every day.

John writes of the Democrats bizarro strategy to keep the focus on pre-war intelligence gathering. Why? It keeps the party members away from noticing that they have no strategy for governance!

Scott writes about the Plame affair. AND has a link to a Zell Miller column. I love him.

Over the top Democrats

I'm sure you've read of this already but this really is just wacko in regards to Democratic Party tactics.

"Party trumps race, especially on the national level,"

Bullsh** if this were reversed.

A run down of crap

the Middle Easterners have to put up with from the Lebanese Political Journal. Seconded by Iraq the Model.

Vodkapundit

fisks Richard Cohen. Stephen really is the king of this genre!

I second Nate in the comments section:

I hereby nominate "who gives a crap what Canada thought about the Civil War?" as quotation of the week.

ANWR set to pass

via Powerline which makes this a very sad day.

I've told my congress people and now I'll say it here - why do we want to drill in ANWR NOW? According to powerline, it would be to lower the price of gas. And why do we want that?? Until we see the result of personal change in this country, we will always be relying on foreign oil for our energy. If we drill in Alaska and gas goes down do you really think we Americans will have the foresight to say,
"hmmm, we dodged that bullet, lets plan better for the next round after we've emptied out ANWR. Let's build smaller houses without huge open spaces that need heating. Let's dump our hummers because, really, why do we need one. Let's ride our bikes more to commute and let's increase our reliance on solar and wind"

Please. If gas goes down, we'll go about our merry way until once again, we'll be in a crisis relying on Venezuela who, (yeah right) will be far more reliable than Saudi Arabia.

I wrote about this in September and my reasoning was spot on then too.

Greenpeace

I wasn't going to mention this because I am an environmentalist and I admire people who are willing to put themselves out there for their cause, but since it's now been mentioned by two of my favorite bloggers, one who is billed as an environmentalist, it's fair game. Essentially, Greenpeace, while on an expedition to promote healthy energy and conducting dives to study the effects of global warming, hit a coral reef and did some major damage. This piece has the detail and frankly the quote of the day!

Money quote:
Mr Constantino said that Greenpeace divers on the Tubbataha expedition had found that healthy coral and no evidence of bleaching, believed to be caused by warming sea temperatures.

He said the healthy state of the Tubbataha Reefs did not disprove the theory of global warming, which he described as an "extremely complicated science".


Hello? Isn't that what everyone's been saying? So don't jump to conclusions? Be aware, do what you can, study more, but don't trash the world's economy by jumping to simple conclusions in a very complicated science.

The closing of the Senate

Right Wing News has the story along with everyone else. What exactly did they talk about??

"It's like they sat down and tried to come up with a way to validate some of the worst stereotypes about the Democratic Party. "Well, they say that we're nothing but "unrepublicans" who have no ideas to make America a better place so let's prove them right by shutting down the Senate in order to complain about Bush again! That'll show 'em!""

The Libby Affair

I don't think lying to a grand jury is a good idea and from what I've heard Fitzgerald is quite respectable. However, with this scandal comes the need to be armed with the little factoids of the affair. Max Boot rounds it up. Just who lied when and the evidence at the time concerning WMDs.
It's short and memorizable.

Actually, Powerline has this link too, along with a few others.

Noonan

Again. This time it's Glenn Reynold's column.

Steyn

And the visiting Prince.

Syria

Gets the ultimate punishment with a UN Resolution. Ouch! That's gotta hurt.

Actually, I should title this "Syrian Regime". Mohammed makes a good point about Syria itself not being the here. He talks of his perspective when there were UN Resolutions against "Iraq" vs "the Iraqi Regime" and looks forward to the money trail from Syria drying up.

From Syria itself comes Amarji with a short post worth reading if only for the imagery! Seriously. lol

Cool

Muslem women meeting to discuss feminism in Islam. More power to them.

Gorgeous Photo

of Turnagain Arm.

Hey - I'm linked!

Check it out. Thanks Scott at Environmental Republican. I feel famous!