Free kibbles

Bush shortens Iraq tours from 15 months to 12 months.  This should help relieve the strain on the military.

Democrats filed contempt brief against Bush for claiming executive privilege and blocking testimony from Bolton and Miers over the firing of US Attorneys.  Democrats need to get a life.   The president can fire Attorney for any reason he likes, and not carrying out his law enforcement agenda aggressively enough is a great reason to fire them.  That's what Bush should have said from the beginning.

Democrats continue to promote the fiction that harsh interrogation techniques used on detainees are torture.  They are not.  Waterboarding is not.

Spy photos reveal long range Iranian missile site capable of striking Europe.

China threatens to expel athletes with Tibetan flags from Olympics.  China keeps shooting itself in the foot on this issue.

Marine accused of murdering his Marine lover captured in Mexico.

Chinese emigration to the US.

This will put a black eye on women in the military.  US Navy Lt. Commander moonlighted as a prostitute.

Mickey Kaus parses the NYTimes story on the battle in Basra between Iraqi forces and the Mehdi Army and exposes its bias and alarmism.

Clinton did a successful job at grilling Gen. Petreaus without insulting him this time.

Along with his Global Povert Act which is a $65 billion US foreign welfare program to be administered by the UN, Obama pushes bill to rein in CEO pay.  Clinton and McCain support "reform" for CEO compensation as well.  Obama may be the biggest of the 3 socialists, but they're all 3 socialists.

Cato calls McCain a neocon.  By neocon, they mean a classic Democrat who loves big government and military adventurism.

Pirates release French crew.  I wanted see the French kick some ass.  Maybe they still will.

New communications satellites going into orbit.

Pat Buchanan says Gen. Petreaus' testimony to Congress lays the groundwork for Bush to attack Iran.  What's odd about this article is that Buchanan doesn't seem to realize this has been a ongoing process.  Our military has been reporting that Iran is supplying and training the Shiite militias for over a year - meaning Iran was complicit in killing Americans.  Congress declared the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization nearly a year ago, if I remember correctly.  And when we invaded Iraq, we should have secured Iraq's borders at the beginning and retaliated against the terrorist staging areas in Iran and Syria.  One of the huge mistakes from day 1, repeated from Vietnam, that we allowed these cross border safe havens for attacking us in Iraq.  Buchanan is right that Iran doesn't a want a war with us right now.  They want to develop the bomb so they'll be far more effective and immune from retaliation in the future.  If we let them develop the bomb, we'd basically be powerless against Iran until they used one.

Right after I agree Iran doesn't want war with the US, I read about Iranian fastboats threatening another US warship in the Gulf.  What in the world is Iran thinking?  I don't believe these are rogue actions because the government would have put an end to them if they were.  Maybe Iran just misinterprets America.  Maybe Iran thinks Democrats will keep Bush from attacking.  Maybe they think Iraq will keep Bush from attacking.  Or maybe they're delusional or want us to attack so they can play the victim.  They understand us as poorly as we understand the Mullahs.

Cato describes how dumb the new Senate bill addressing the foreclosure crisis is.  People buying foreclosed homes are already getting a deal.  They don't need an incentive.  Why incentivize new home builders when that will just keep the price of homes depressed?

Bernanke reports that the credit crisis and recession is nothing like the Great Depression despite the hype from the media.  Cato calls the media hype economic hysteria.

Mugabe's government is arresting opposition leaders and independent members of the electoral commission.

Cato challenges Greenspan's reputation by exposing that during his tenure, three time the Fed overreacted to perceived problems, making money too cheap, and credit crunches, including the current credit crunch, followed each time.

Cato explains how Bush's policies in Iraq, empowering Shiites at the expense of Sunnis, paved the way for great Iranian influence in Iraq.

Government intervention in the free market for food could create world-wide political unrest.

Plaintiff's lawyer subpoenas blogger critical of plaintiff's lawyers.

Boortz recommends an article on Democrats' planned tax bomb.

Obama keeps getting worse and worse.  Now it seems any midwesterner who supports the Second Amendment or religion or dislikes illegal immigration or free trade is bitter because government hasn't rebuilt our communities.  It
also makes us racists.

P4P
negates the need for net neutrality regulations.

Michelle Obama's staff made black students move their seats so more white students could sit around her, improving her photo op.  Can you imagine the uproar if John McCain had done that? This double standard is sickening.

It looks like Oprah's popularity has fallen below Ellen's since she endorsed Obama.

Really bad toothpaste name.

Florida passed a law prohibiting businesses from banning firearms in cars on their private property.  This is the intersection of competing rights, property rights and the right to bear arms.  I  think this law is wrongheaded.  Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose, and your right to bear arms ends at my property line if I say so.  I think property rights should win here. And I think any employer who bans firearms must  also assume the liability for anybody who is the victim of a crime on his property.  If you just stick by the founding principles of this country, this stuff is easy.

Nancy Pelosi is changing fast track rules used for trade agreements to bury the Columbian free trade agreement and threaten future trade agreements.  Oppenents nicknamed the move the "Hugo Chavez rule" since it will harm Columbia and therefore help Chavez.

Thomas Sowell has some unusually pointed passing thoughts, mostly about liberals.

Walter Williams explains that the president takes the oath of office to defend the Constitution, but our politicians have not done that for a century or more.  But I disagree we should change the oath.  Instead, we should change our politicians.