Free kibbles

The US has made a deal rewarding north Korea for developing nuclear weapons. They get fuel and closer ties to the US and Japan in return for shutting down a nuclear power plant. They get to keep their bombs. Any nation who wants something from the US has learned it should start developing nuclear weapons ASAP. Agreement will be hard to monitor because we don't even know how many nuclear plants they have. President Bush should reject this deal even though Condi likes it. Not going to happen - Bush likes deal. John Podhoretz thinks North Korea has played Bush like it's played everybody else.

Politically incorrect book on climate change.

"Societies choose how to adapt," he continues. "Do they create wealth, become richer and more technologically adept to deal with something that's always there--unpredictable and severe weather--or do they what Europe used to do, and seems to be on the cusp of doing again now, which is look for witches to burn?"

Somebody forgot to tell Indian scientists that man-made global warming was settled science. Study shows Greenland's glacier melt is not accelerating, but variable.

House Democrats follow Senate Democrats' lead and bar debate on Iraq resolution. Only their version will make it to the floor, and the minority Republicans can't stop it or offer alternatives. This shows how empty the Democrats are of ideas - they can't allow debate because they know they'll lose big time. This article doesn't even mention that Democrats have in fact refused to allow debate. Boortz thinks more Americans will die because of this resolution.

Iraq closes borders with Iran and Syria. This is a great step, why haven't they been closed all along? Austrian sniper rifles exported to Iran confiscated from terrorists in Iraq.

Our failure to support democracy in Muslim Tunisia.

Women's rights bill introduces in Pakistan. That ought to cause plenty of violence and anti-American sentiment.

Atlanta indicts cops in deadly drug raid to hide the deeper, systemic problems that led to the fraudulent raid.

CIA official to be indicted on fraud.

The government shields itself from hazardous materials lawsuits.

The Department of Education will open an Arabic public school in New York. Did I mention we should abolish the Department of Education?

Bank of America offers credit card to costumers with no credit history or SSN, supposedly targeted at illegal aliens.

Hillary invokes Bill to hide her overwhelming flaws. She's opened the door to a scathing review of Clinton years. Why she would think America wants to be reminded of those years is beyond me. Bill couldn't even get 45% of the vote.

Fred Thompson blasts Fitzgerald and unaccountable, all-powerful independent prosecutors.

Mice cloned from skin cells.

Russia investigating reports that Russian conscripts were used as male prostitutes.

New NASA astronaut screening test.

Cheney and Libby will not testify at Libby's witchhunt.

Our policy to bring about democracy in China is obviously a failure. Because we're making China rich:

First and foremost, the Chinese regime’s ability to deliver continued economic growth has prolonged its ability to govern.

There's nothing ironic about this. The Chinese people are getting rich. Why would they want change?

Ironically, impressive economic growth has bolstered the government’s legitimacy and reduced pressures for it to liberalize politically.

The people of China will only demand change when they think they're government is failing them, which means we have to stop making them rich while we still have enough influence.

A Leopard Can't Change Its Stripes

A Leopard Can't Change Its Stripes

by Mark Luedtke

We've known for the last 6 years that Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' anointed candidate in 2008. Forget the hype around the empty suit, Barack Obama. Al Gore's attempt to ride the weather through the backdoor won't work. John Edward's channeling of dead little girls to motivate himself won't enable him to overcome the left's misguided infatuation with Hillary either. No matter how bad her policies, her personality, and her gaffs, Hillary will win the Democratic nomination.

Hillary hasn't been in the race two weeks, and we've already seen how inept she is personally, as a candidate, and policy maker. Her response to Iraq still being an issue in 2009: she really resents it. She jokes her past dealings with evil men (she won't say who) have prepared her to deal with Osama bin Laden. Her response to ExxonMobile's record profits: she wants to steal the money from stockholders. And she's already made up her mind on Iraq – never mind what might happen in the next two years – she'll bring US troops home as soon as she becomes President.

While making these foolish comments in discussions with voters, Hillary looked about as comfortable as a drowning cat. Had this been anybody but Hillary Clinton, we would have already laughed the candidate out of the race. But not Hillary, because she's anointed even though she makes all the Democratic candidates of the last 20 years look like grand statesmen by comparison. Including Kerry and Dukakis.

But we're not limited to two weeks to judge Hillary. Her candidacy is unique because never before have we had a chance to watch such a shrewd, calculated, yet inept, political transformation so publicly for so many years. She took the nation by storm as Bill Clinton's equal partner, a feminist icon, and immediately drew up a titanic socialized medicine plan that would have made Canada's look successful. All claws and fangs, she would have imprisoned us for trying to get services from our own doctors. Now she wears soft pastels, pearls and lockets in an attempt to fool voters, but she's no June Cleaver.

Hillary worked hard during the intervening years to earn her impressive 45% negative rating.

Most of America was happy to put Bill Clinton's presidency behind us, but to evaluate Hillary, we're forced to review the pathos of the Clinton administration and Hillary's role in it. Some will think that unfair, but consider if Laura Bush ran for President in 2016, we would also have a duty to revisit the Bush presidency and ask hard questions about the policies, scandals, and the role of the First Lady, using the light of history as our guide.

And as much as the mainstream media loves Hillary, they love themselves more. And as much as Democrats love Hillary, the other Democratic candidates love themselves more as well. Bill Clinton, through deft political maneuvering and personal charisma, managed to escape without ever adequately answering for the myriad scandals and bad policies of his administration. Hillary will have to answer those questions, without Bill's skills or him in front, and there are no good answers.

Hillary will have to answer for her role in the Whitewater scandals. She personally authored the legal brief that enabled one of the many Whitewater scams – Castle Grande. Several of her partners in the Whitewater scams have been imprisoned for fraud, but Hillary has never answered for her role. She's never answered for her role in hiding subpoenaed documents relating to the scams for over two years before they were found in her apartment.

Hillary will have to answer for her role in removing documents from Vince Foster's office after his suicide. After speaking with Hillary, her chief of staff personally removed the documents so the FBI couldn't see them. What was Hillary trying to hide?

Did Hillary have a role in Clinton's China policy? Bill gave China most favored nation trade status right after taking office despite campaigning as a China hardliner. The large campaign donations he received from the Chinese military through obvious intermediaries after taking office must have changed his mind. Later Bill personally stopped prosecutions of companies who gave China missile guidance technology after receiving large campaign contributions from those companies. Hillary was her husband's fundraising partner. Does she stand by her husband's actions?

Bill Clinton's weakness on terrorism empowered al Qaeda and precipitated 9/11. We now know that Sandy Berger, Bill's national security advisor, destroyed classified documents regarding Bill's response to terrorists to keep them from the 9/11 commission. Does Hillary support her husband's terrorism policies, and does she support theft and destruction of documents to cover up his decisions?

Hillary is the worst of the field, but she'll probably run against either John McCain, who will put us in jail for exercising supposedly free political speech, Rudy Giuliani, who doesn't trust anybody but his bodyguards with a gun, or Mitt Romney who is undergoing the Republicans' version of Hillary's finger-in-the-wind political transformation. Where's the candidate for freedom? Worse than ever before, the two parties will present us with a choice between the slightly lesser of two great evils in 2008.

Free kibbles

Sharia coutoure on the runway in London. So much for not changing our way of life. The terrorists would be better off lying low until we surrender to the peaceful takeover of our culture.

Bombs kill 80 in Iraq.

Ahmadinejad gives interview to Diane Sawyer.

Ex-official says Bush is trying to provoke war with Iran. This is a new, even more dangerous position for the left - not only isn't America allowed to use military force anymore, we're not allowed to ratchet up the pressure on rogue nations either. To the left, America is the worst enemy.

As dangerous as natural climate change would be, geoengineering a system we no very little about sounds way more scary.

The evil Valentine's bouquet causes global warming. The President of Czechoslovakia questions Gore's sanity. Gore's sanity is just fine - as is his bank account.

Bush's titanic budget is no cut.

Here's how it works: Assume government spending will continue to grow annually by seven percent on average, as it has for the past six years. Then imagine you only get a four percent increase this year. Official Washington would see this as a three-percentage point cut. It's the fiscal equivalent of a recovering alcoholic drinking only two and a half beers instead of the whole six-pack before the A.A. meeting.

Christopher Hitchens describes how Hillary and Romney are trying to change their stripes.

Hillary claims specific Republicans fear her. Talk about another stupid gaff. Hillary's her own worst enemy, but she gets a pass. That's pretty big talk considering Bill couldn't even get 45% of the vote, and only won because Perot took fiscally responsible votes. Hollywood knows Hillary is unelectable.

Giuliani defends gun control, tries to spin that he understands the second amendment. Apparently he doesn't understand the meaning of the word "infringed."

The unity party is trying to fill a non-existant need. Libertarians are the majority - they just have given up on the two party system.

China promises no more satellite killing tests. I think they accomplished what they intended already.

6 party North Korea talks are a tease. Deal. No deal. Deal. No deal. I think any US concession that allows the NK to keep its nukes is a bad deal. The last 15 years of weak foreign policy has painted us into a corner all around the world. Every rouge nation knows it can break a treaty, then get concessions from the US. Break another treaty, get more concessions. Get more dangerous. Get more concessions. Do something bad, and US will reward you to stop. That isn't foreign policy - that's being a sugar-daddy and encouraging anti-American behavior. We need to reward actions in our interests and punish actions against our interests. How hard is that to figure out?

Study says women are chokers.

Stem cell therapy enlarges breasts. There will be plenty of funding now. In a related story, Britain to sell viagra over the counter.

Cheney likely to take the stand to defend Libby from witchhunt.

Nasdaq fails in hostile takeover attempt of London Stock exchange.

Angry tourist drops pants for security check at airport.

Mark Steyn says mankind should adapt to climate change through growth, not reverting to the stone age.

Obama's quest. I think Obama's popularity, while certainly stemming from charm and an attitude of moderation (not to be confused with moderate positions), is actually founded on his lack of experience. America can't stand the positions of the two parties, and Obama has yet to be defined by them. He's a symbol of hope so far without the any of the destructive anti-American baggage the two parties saddle on their members. Barack Obama is a symbol that Americans want freedom, not another candidate from the two parties.

Dinesh D'Souza skewers both the left and the right for their actions regarding moderate Islam. Yet another example that the two parties are failing America. But we'll vote for them anyway.

Take back the debate on the Iraq War

I wrote the following letter to my representatives:

It's time to change the debate on the war in Iraq. You should force every anti-war candidate to make a statement based on American unity:

If Americans were united with a goal of victory in Iraq, would we win? Of course we would. The only thing stopping us is the anti-war movement. Any anti-war candidate who states a united America isn't good enough to win in Iraq will get slaughtered next election. Any anti-war candidate who thinks we would win if united, but chooses not to unite, will get slaughtered next election.

It's time to take back the debate on Iraq and focus it on victory - nothing else.

Free kibbles

New minimum wage hike leads to layoffs, reduced hours, and hiring freezes, just like always. This is why the Democrats raise the minimum wage - to hurt the economy, make it hard for poor and unskilled people to find work, and to increase dependence on government.

McCain's hypocritical efforts to limit other people's campaign financing don't apply to him. I hope McCain ends up jailed by his anti-freedom of speech McCain/Feingold law.

House Democrats restricting debate on Iraq just like their Senate counterparts.

Coalition forces confiscate weapons caches and arrest insurgents in Baghdad. The new offensive is showing immediate results.

Gates uses velvet glove in response to Putin's criticisms.

Israel urges continued blockade of Palestinian government in wake of unity government deal.

North Korea talks to end with no deal. I guess Bush decided he didn't want to lose his wallet.

British troops sit idly by while Taliban fighters gather for an attack. Why aren't they killing them now?

UN considers more sanctions against resistant Iran.

Slashdot reports that Walmart is blocking Firefox and Safari from accessing their new music download site. I can read it using Firefox, but I didn't try to download anything.

The non-story of Libby's trial.

Iraq defeatism. If American was united behind the goal of victory in Iraq, we would have already succeeded. If America unites now, success is assured. The only thing keeping us from succeeding is our defeatist attitude. The representatives who agree with me should make that the point in the debate. They should make the Democrats and anti-war Republicans stand up and say that America isn't good enough to win even if united. That would end the anti-war movenment because those representatives would get slaughtered next election.

I'm already sick of Obama's comparisons to Lincoln. And I'm tired of people complaining about the rhetoric of the parties. The rhetoric is just a symptom of problem. The problem is the anti-American, anti-freedom policies.

Free kibbles

Rove doesn't want his son to pick tomatoes, that why he wants to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. What's wrong with a kid picking tomatoes? Elitism in action.

Contrary to pop media, the middle class is thriving. As is wealth envy.

America is fighting four wars in Iraq. Deadliest bomb in Iraq comes from Iran.

General says that no new tactics were used to bring down 6 US helicopters in 3 weeks.

US planning to strike Iran. We would be foolish if we did not have such a plan in place, keeping our options open and keeping pressure on Iran.

Rice, Abbas, and Olmert to meet and discuss the ramifications of the Palestinians new unity government.

Putin lectures America on international law and democracy.

Poland to erect statue to Reagan. Well deserved.

Hillary continues to try and justify her Iraq vote by being dishonest. Democrats will let this woman lie about anything and everything and still nominate her.

Globalism extends to the lottery.

Virus outbreak at 2 NC hospitals.

Paraplegic dumped on LA skid row, allegedly by hospital.

Illegal aliens murder far more Americans annually than are killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Free kibbles

So it looks like North Korea gets fuel and normalized relations with the US, and gets to keep it's existing nukes in return for dismantling a nuclear plant. This China brokered deal would be a great deal for NK, and a horrible deal for the US. Bush better see if he still has his wallet.

Venezuela buys country's largest power provider. The road to serfdom continues.

Gates claims US can prove Iran's role in Iraq.

Three illegal immigrants shot dead crossing border. The violence is just going to get worse until we get rid of their incentive for coming here.

Global warming zealots continue their disgusting comparison of skeptics to holocaust deniers. Pelosi and Democrats support hurting American economy even more.

Report claims special intelligence operation is illegal. Pentagon disagrees.

Liberal columnist claims Gonzales' firings of 7 prosecutors amounts to coup. I wonder what this guy said when Bill Clinton had Janet Reno fired all 93 US prosecutors. I guess it was OK then.

Violence at holy site of Temple Mount / Noble Sanctuary.

Five charged in plot to kidnap and behead British soldier.

New charges listed against two Russian oil-man to legitimize Russian oil grab.

Brain scanner can read people's intentions.

Biotechnology threatens human dignity.

Did Boston's official's unwarrented panic really cost $1 million?

Boortz has a FairTax update from John Linder.

Unions are dying out, so Democrats are trying to remove a worker's right to vote in private whether or not to unionize.

Since the public is fed up with earmarks, representatives will do their pork spending in secret. How's that for responding to the people? Vote third party and kick all these crooks out of office.

Reporter thinks Petraeus can and will win in Iraq, but Washington may never acknowledge that victory. If the anti-war movement gets it's way, it will repeat it's failures forcing our defeat in Vietnam after we had already won. New offensive a mixed bag so far. Mahdi army lying low or fleeing to Iran and Syria. We need Petraeus to take charge.

I love to read the overseas assessments of US politics. It's a very different perspective outside the forest. My favorite line, though it's not representative of the article:

Hillary Clinton is busy modifying her previous modifications to position herself closer to the clearer antiwar stances of Barack Obama and John Edwards. On current trends, the three will soon be wearing bandanas, camping out in front of the White House, and openly considering signing Jane Fonda on to the ticket in 2008.

Cato says Bush's budget lacks ambition. That's quite an understatement.

In a further bastardization of guilt in Boston's destructive overreaching to lite-brites, cartoon network's CEO resigns. Our entire nation is handling this exactly wrong. Boston's officials are to blame. Nobody else.

Free kibbles

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens to retaliate if US attacks. Tests anti-ship missiles. Of course they'll retaliate if we attack. This is not support for Ahmadinejad. Iran cracks down on suspected spies. Internal dissent is splitting the country. Ratcheting up the pressure in Iran is working. Attacking Iran would undo everything. Europe isn't doing enough to limit Iran.

Republican Senators to force a voted ending debate on Iraq resolutions. How come this is being reported backwards? Democrats ended debate, not Republicans.

Iraqi special forces arrest Iraqi government official suspected of militia ties. This is excellent news.

International help requested to combat gang violence in Southern California. We don't need any international help. This violence is caused by illegal immigrants and funded by the war on drugs. We can fix it by legalizing drugs which will disarm the Mexican drug cartels controlling our border and the drug gangs all over the country, not just Southern California, and by cracking down on companies which hire illegal aliens and stopping benefits for them so most will go home. The remaining illegals will have no money and we'll roll them up and send them home too. Problem solved.

Texas man gets death penalty for murder of girl and fetus. The Texas law defines and individual from the moment of conception. This is insane. It defines all abortions regardless of circumstance as murder. Next thing you know, women will be imprisoned for miscarriages.

UK minister orders probe into Saudi funded school in London.

Radical Muslim arrested in UK accuses UK of being a police state against Muslims. It's kind of funny that guy who was planning to kidnap and behead a British soldier complains that the UK is a police state, but this points out the far more serious problem that the radical Muslims are using our own freedom and tolerance against us, and liberals are buying into it.

Palestinian leaders reach power sharing plan.

France to probe two policemen in deaths of youths that sparked 2005 riots. They better probe why they couldn't stop the riots for three weeks also.

Israelis begin dig next to al-Aqsa mosque. This is the mosque sitting on the grounds of King Solomon's temple. Armageddon is supposed to happen if the temple is rebuilt.

North Korea to keep nukes - US to allow it more oil. How is this good for us?

Enforced virtue: the debate between libertarians and conservatives.

Ethics charges against prosecutors like Mike Nifong are rare.

NASA to reevaluate it's psychological evaluations. I guess so.

Use of bittorrent implies guilt to companies.

Gmail is now open to all. I guess I wasted my those remaining invitations.

Victor Davis Hanson harshly critiques Dinesh D'Souza's new book on fighting terrorism.

No matter how titanic the Bush budget, $2.9 trillion, Democrats want more.

The Pentagon's peacetime procurement rules keep tools from our soldiers.

Security comes from freedom

Response to Why America was Nuked:

If our representatives, whom we elected, are leading us to inevitable defeat, why did we re-elect them? Why have we re-elected the same two failed parties every two years? How come we didn't vote for representatives who want to reduce the size of government, reduce Americans' dependency on government, and thereby empower Americans to fight the war on terror, and focus government on winning the war on terror?

It's no accident that the only people who fought back on 9/11 were private citizens on one lonely airliner. Our government is over-burdened and ill-equipped to deal with terrorists. Just look at the debacle caused by Boston officials last week. Our government has to work hard to destroy education and health care. It has to jail people for having a joint in their pockets. Our government has to modify and collect income tax every day. Our government has to protect big corporations from competition from small entrepreneurs. Our government is busy granting amnesty to illegal aliens. All that destruction of freedom and our way of life takes a lot of resources - big government resources that we vote for and have to pay for.

Our government is way too busy with these activities to effectively protect anybody from terrorism. Imagine one parent trying to restrict multiple kids of different ages every minute of every day. It's not possible. But we keep electing the same two parties and the same people every two years like clockwork to treat us like children, and do a far worse job.

If we want security, we have to vote for freedom. Adopt the FairTax. Reduce the size and scope of government so it can focus on security, and so can we. Free the people from the department of destruction of education. Free the people from government interference in health care. Stop companies from hiring illegal aliens and stop government from providing benefits so we can control our southern border. End the war on drugs to free Americans and disarm our enemies: the Mexican drug cartels, the Taliban, and drug gangs like MS13 and others.

Security comes from freedom - not dependency. Free America. Secure America. Vote third party.

Free kibbles

Lieberman wants to raise taxes instead of cutting spending. He's still a Democrat.

McCain to propose bill monitoring bad pictures on the internet. He found another way to attack freedom of speech. We already have laws against child pornography. Thousands caught world-wide accessing violent child porn.

GOP congressman misses four days of votes to play golf. Raising taxes, criminalizing speech, playing golf. It's business as usual in Washington.

Government witness for the prosecution lied in trial that convicted two border patrolmen in a shooting incident. This highlights the hidden corruption of our law enforcement, judges, and politicians from the war on drugs. As if we needed even more reason to ditch the anti-American, anti-freedom unconstitutional drug war on Americans that finances our enemies. Adding another level of bureaucracy, homeland security, to our border enforcement has only made things worse.

More states revolt against National ID card.

FBI's crusade against online gambling criminalizes legitimate businessmen.

Intelligent video software, the all-seeing eye, can monitor people across hundreds of video cameras. Device for secretly scanning irises of public planned.

Muslim, UK principal defends use of schoolbooks for little kids calling Jews 'apes' and Christians 'pigs.' School to edit books.

Serial letter bomber strikes UK for third time.

Italy to try US marine in absentia.

Somalia prime minister shakes up cabinet.

Iran test fires new Russian air defense missiles.

Depleted Uranium affects the health of soldiers.

Fifth helicopter down in Iraq in 3 weeks. Small arms fire was reported. You have to wonder if Iraqi insurgents have developed a successful tactic to bring down US helicopters. The military is considering a change in tactics. No kidding.

In power grab, EU to create rules for environmental crimes.

Ban Alert: New York state Senator proposes ban on walking and talking while using electronic device.

Astronaut used government contacts to stalk intended victim.

Hackers attack internet backbone with minimal effect.

US companies prepare for bird flu pandemic. It seems surreal that we've know about bird flu for years, but we've been unable to disarm it.

John Stossel exposes just how foolish the Boston officials were for instigating a panic that shut the city down over lite-brites. The longer Boston gets away with blaming the ad artists instead of themselves, the more likely we'll see even greater panic and abuse of government power in the name of the war on terror in the future. Where is the outrage of the media?

Rambling but interesting article arguing that libertarians are still better off aligning with conservatives.

Michelle Malkin says the left's idea of a real war hero is an AWOL officer who abandoned his unit and attacked his Commander in Chief. Technicality on stipulation forces mistrial for AWOL officer.

The economic development lesson is clear: Have a system of economic freedom and grow rich. Extensive government control, weak property rights and government corruption almost guarantee poverty. A country's institutional infrastructure is critical to its economic growth and the well-being of its citizens. The most critical are protection of private property, enforcement of contracts and rule of law.

Ken Backwell says that the right to keep and bear arms was instrumental in the success of the civil rights movement.

What if Bush's strategies work? Republicans may be cutting their own throats.

Free kibbles

Carbon tax gains supporters. We already have an income tax penalty compared to every trading partner that uses a VAT tax, which is most of them. A carbon tax would be just the same - American goods would be penalized compared to foreign goods, and America would continue hemorrhaging jobs overseas. Support the FairTax to allow Americans to compete on a level playing field with foreign workers.

Since Democrats wouldn't allow amendments, Republicans filibuster anti-war resolution.

Convicted terrorist a member of Iraqi parliament.

Countries are not paying their pledges for Iraq reconstruction. No doubt, they will point to the violence as the reason they won't invest, but investing would help resolve some violence. World support shows us exactly the world we made. Excepting a few good allies, everybody in the world sits around and lets the US resolve problems, never sacrificing, and blames us the entire way. We created a welfare world.

Prime Minister Maliki calls for Baghdad crackdown to start quickly. Apparently he isn't in charge of his security forces.

The latest NIE on Iraq seems to support Bush's new plan.

Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq. Iran blames US.

Iran challenges Europeans to prove Holocaust occurred.

Fatah and Hamas leaders meet in Mecca in hopes to resolve differences.

Suicide bomber killed at Pakistan airport. Suicide bombings are increasing Pakistan.

Bush creates new military command for Africa.

Existing, cheap, safe drug fights cancer.

Second letter bomb in 2 days in UK.

Terror-free oil and voting with your dollars.

Police to fly unmanned surveillance drone.

Group wants to force married couple to have children or have marriage annulled.

Astronaut attacks astronaut over love triangle. At least they weren't in space when it happened.

Revisiting Mexifornia 5 years later - it's worse than predicted.

Turns out that NYT story about 51% of women being unmarried was "creative." Thomas Sowell says it was twisted as part of the left's attack on marriage and the family.

Great article on media bias in reporting on the economy.

Jefferson's DNA verified with British Jeffersons.

Space debris has built up to the point it may hinder exploration of space. Great graphics.

Unusual tribute to Ronald Reagan on his birthday.

Supposedly "moderate" Arab regimes are anything but moderate. But what do we do with them?

Free kibbles

Bush increases budget by 3/4 of a $1 trillion. As bizarre at it seems given this outrageous growth, Bush plans reduction in growth of Medicare, and health care providers are upset. Every business gets upset when government removes special compensation so they don't have to compete fairly.

Raw meat for sharks in Libby case: Judge rules Libby's "secret" grand jury testimony tapes will be played in the courtroom then released to the press.

Feds to take DNA from anybody arrested and illegal aliens.

Climatologist calls human caused global warming "greatest deception in the history of science." George Will explodes the myth of Kyoto and ethanol.

Christopher Hitchens thinks Iraq's problems were pretty much inevitable.

European telecoms plan secret company to challenge Google and Yahoo.

Letter bomb injures woman in UK.

Sex sells at sexpresso coffee shops in Seattle.

McCain has changed positions and does not support raising taxes. Another finger in the wind, but at least this time he's moving back to conservative roots. That's a good sign, but I'll never trust a guy who wants to jail us for political speech.

Russia files criminal charges against founders of Yukos oil to "legitimize" nationalization. Putin's authoritarian march continues.

Vista's DRM technology a threat to internet freedom.

In a phenomenal feat of political bias gymnastics, the press blames Bush because the Middle East is hostile to the press.

It's the strategy, not the surge

From William Kristol.

But of course these senators won't acknowledge they're influenced by the electoral cycle. Consider John Warner. Is he worried about 2008? No. It's memories of Vietnam that suddenly haunt him. As the Washington Post reported on its front page recently:
"I regret that I was not more outspoken" during the Vietnam War, the former Navy secretary said in an interview in his Capitol Hill office. "The Army generals would come in, 'Just send in another five or ten thousand.' You know, month after month. Another ten or fifteen thousand. They thought they could win it. We kept surging in those years. It didn't work."

These gross mis-characterizations of history will doom us, because it shows the public did not learn history's lessons.

We won the war in Vietnam, before the anti-war movement lost it, by changing commanders and strategy. Abrams replaced Westmoreland just like Petraeus is replacing Casey. Abrams brought a new focus on counter-insurgency, just like Petraeus. After 4 years of deadly blunders that have threatened American foreign policy all over the world, Bush finally made a good decision to win the war, learning from history.

In Vietnam, the US achieved its goal of standing up the Vietnamese military so it could defend itself against North Vietnam. Thanks to Abrams strategy and American troops implementation, the Vietnamese defeated North Vietnamese troops in combat, and were able to fight the war themselves as long as the US provided supplies. Petraeus now has that exact same goal in Iraq, and he has the best military in the world working for him.

It's not the surge, it's the change in strategy and the leader. It's political cowardice to stick a finger in the wind and join the stiff breeze calling for a pullout. It takes political courage and leadership to continue fighting, but with history, a new strategy, General Petraeus, and American troops on the side of victory, we have a great chance to win in Iraq.

Free kibbles

Ahmaninejad calls Feb. 11 the date when Iran's nuclear rights, and other messianic goals, will be gained. I wonder if that's the day he'll test the nuclear bomb I think he bought from North Korea. He's trying to set himself up as a prophet to be martyred, but he's really just a complete loon. In what has to be a related story, a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist has died under mysterious circumstances.

Baghdad offensive set to begin.

Some soldiers consider "surge" to be a lost cause. I hope they have a different story in 6 months.

Iraqi interior ministry estimates that 1000 Iraqis have been killed in the last week. As I pointed out before, as terrible as this is, this is a good sign that Bush's new strategy is working. That in itself is a condemnation of the previous policy of hindering our troops from engaging all the bad guys.

Court-martial begins for army officer who refused to serve in Iraq.

Veteran group to run Superbowl ad opposing surge. I wonder if they'll propose an alternative and discuss the consequences.

New US General takes over NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Palestinians fear infighting hurts their case. Ya think?

China launches first navigation satellite in GPS-type system.

Bush's debacle in Iraq is hastening the decline of America and the rise of China. We're so stupid, we're enriching them and hastening our own subjugation to them.

The anti-American global warming propagandists are winning. In wake of report, calls mount for global response. Ice on Iceland is increasing.

Revolt against national driver's license spreads. That goodness states are finally exercising state's rights! This is a very hopeful development for freedom.

John Edwards plans to raise taxes if elected. Let's hope the rest of the Democrats are as honest.

Cross ordered removed from Chapel to make it more non-denominational. This is the new battle-ground involving religious freedom and civil liberties.

TiVo sells data on viewers viewing habits.

Google tries to hide it's political pressure for favorable deals.

A better way to watch the Superbowl since ESPN has ruined it.

Free kibbles

Bush says Congress needs to address entitlements. Of course, this is after he added a $1 trillion obligation to Medicare.

Bird flu hits turkey farm in Great Britain.

Bush requests $100 billion for wars in 2007, $145 billion for 2008. Pretty soon that will add up to some real money. I hope Congress does the oversight it promised.

How the Bush administration has abused renditions and cost us international support.

Iran organizes propaganda tour of select nuclear facilities for journalists and diplomats.

US envoy has hope for renewed 6 party talks on North Korea. I think North Korea is just playing us, hoping an embattled Bush administration will provide money and technology to them just like Clinton and Carter did. I think they've sold a nuke to Iran so Iran can test it and leave the world wondering if they're a nuclear power.

Space station moved to avoid debris of destroyed satellite.

NYC targets blacks for stops and frisks.

Former Coke employee faces 10 years in prison for trying to sell secret formula to Pepsi.

Victor Davis Hanson says Democrats are wise to simply bluster instead of taking responsibility for failure. He also points out that the next election will depend entirely on the outcome of the war in Iraq, and as a consequence, we can expect more of the same bad government from the two parties.

We are in a rare period in American political history, in which the battlefield alone will determine the next election, perhaps not seen since 1864. The economy, scandal, social issues, domestic spending, jobs, all these usual criteria and more pale in comparison to what happens in Iraq, where a few thousand brave American soldiers will determine our collective future.

Barry Casselman says the west is in a trance, and so far unable to respond the great and rapid changes in the world that threaten to destroy us.

Hillary's spin, spin, spin, finger in the wind on the Iraq war. She'll get a pass for her blatant changes in position for the next year and half, but the American people won't give her a pass at the polls.

Shocking news on the global warming front. My local news station just reported we haven't seen temperatures this cold in a year or so!

Why are liberals always surprised when blacks are successful?

Question. Why is it always liberals who seem so genuinely, overtly surprised when black candidates are viable candidates, and in their surprise, evoke old, damaging stereotypes about them? If you'll excuse a Bushism, I think it's because much of their political philosophy and existence depends upon misunderestimating minorities.

xxx

Free kibbles

Reason thanks the Boston ad duo. They make a good point. The complete incompetence of Boston's anti-terror staff was exposed, and they need to hurt somebody in response. The officials caused the panic, not the light-brites. Turner Broadcasting agrees to pay all costs for Boston's bizarre panic over light-brite ads. This is a good PR move for Turner.

Report says global warming "unequivocally" caused by human produced green house gases. Later, it says "90% chance." This is not science, it's educated guesses. Exxonmobile accused of offering cash to scientists to dispute report. I don't know why they would do that. If taken, that money would only taint the opinion of skeptics, and Exxonmobile certainly knows that. Polar bears ride on a floating chunk of ice, as they have done for millions of years, but suddenly it's a tragedy of global warming.

Intelligence report calls Iraq civil war, says Iraq will be a mess until our next election, and says if we leave the country will devolve into complete chaos.

Mickey Kaus has the audacity to ask, what if the surge works? If it works, and America notices, all those new anti-war Democrats and especially newer anti-war Republicans will pay a price. But will America notice? When General Abrams turned around the Vietnam war, pacified the country, and trained the Vietnamese troops so they could defeat the North Vietnamese, the press refused to report it, and America didn't notice. The end result was the loony left anti-war movement defeated us after we'd already won, and millions of our Vietnamese allies were murdered as a result. If we win in Iraq, will anybody notice, and will the loony left again defeat us even after we win?

Republicans split over Iraq war resolutions.

Israelis are considering a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. If they were not drawing up such plans, they would be incompetent.

China's destroyed satellite adds to space debris. US halts cooperation with China on space. The US has no coherent policy regarding this test, and we look like petulant children whining in response. It makes me wonder if Bush looked into Hu's eyes and trusted him like he did Putin, only to be stabbed in the back again.

Scandal around Blair grows.

Muslim leader says Britain is moving toward Nazi-like police state. This in response the raid breaking up the kidnapping/beheading ring. We wouldn't want the police to stop the kidnapping/heheadings now, would we?

UK arrests 47 alleged illegal immigrants.

Guidelines for dealing with flu pandemic.

Hillary wants to steal oil company profits from shareholders. Trying to recover from her "I really resent it" gaff, Hillary is heckled for her Iraq war position. We're going to have to put up with two years of this because the left is willingly blind and doesn't care that Hillary makes Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dukakis, Mondale, and Carter look great by comparison.

Florida to get rid of touchscreen voting machines in favor of paper ballots. This is not an either/or proposition. We should use touchscreen voting machines that include a paper trail. This isn't hard to figure out that that redundancy is vastly superior to either method alone.

France's economy is loosing ground to the US and the rest of the world because of their silly labor laws. Chirac threatens the US with carbon tax to try to slow the US economy too.

Casey defends his Iraq strategy and says we don't need so many more troops. He says we need two brigades. How come he hadn't asked for more troops previously. How can this guy say his strategy was working with a straight face? Yet he's going to be confirmed for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Washington is so stupid.

Charles Krauthammer says blaming America for the violence in Iraq is perverse.

Politicians are trying to rename amnesty for illegals "earned citizenship." This is crap, because earned citizenship is what legal immigrants work their lives for. Illegal aliens should learn that lesson and go home and get in line.

Dell accused of taking cash from Intel to stay only with Intel. Intel has been subsidizing Dell from day one.

Wear famous women like Hillary on your dress.

Pat Buchanan rips President Bush's trade policies and knowledge of history and unwittingly exposes how China is waging it's new Cold War of Terror on the economic front.

Peggy Noonan wishes Ronald Reagan an early happy birthday. Happy birthday!

Free kibbles

Stronger hurricanes "more likely than not" result from man-made global warming. Humans "very likely" making earth warmer. That's what passes for scientific analysis by the hysterics. Global warming skeptic in political hot water.

Exxon Mobil set profit record in 2006. That's on record sales because of extremely high oil prices.

Dept. of Energy can't protect our nuclear weapons. I find that very hard to believe, but incompetence is Washington's defining trait and any level of incompetence is possible.

Senate passes minimum wage hike, freezing young, unskilled workers out of entry level jobs.

Some Reason injected into the discussion of Bush's firing of prosecutors. Nobody complained when Clinton fired them all and replaced them with his cronies.

Personal savings drop to a 74 year low. Support the FairTax which doesn't penalize personal savings.

Congresswoman quits Hispanic caucus claiming Chairman called her a whore. We elect these people election after election.

Nancy Pelosi wants access to military flights for her, her family, her staff, and others in the California delegation.

Britain to increase troops in Afghanistan.

The sorry state of Bush's middle east policy - setting up Sunni states to counter-act the Shiite states.

I don't think Bush's policy helps Ahmadinejad. I think ratcheting up the pressure is working.

Chirac surrenders on Iranian nuke issue. Blames reporters for publishing his statement.

Two men acquitted of charges of illegally financing Hamas.

Two men arrested for marketing campaign gone wrong in Boston.

Walmart and other companiess get tax break by paying rent to themselves. Perfectly legal. This is a consequence of overly complicated tax laws. Any company who takes advantage of this law is smart. Support the FairTax to end all these bogus tax laws.

Attack on British Jews reaches all time high.

UK police seize vehicles for cell phone use and no seatbelt. Where's the outrage?

Victor Davis Hanson calls Kerry the "ugly American."

Censorship on campus threatens us all.

Ban Alert: Texas debates state-wide smoking ban.

The unintended consequences of taxes directed at the mega-rich.

NFL blocks church from showing Superbowl.

Free kibbles

Venezuelan Congress passes first vote to allow Chavez to rule by decree. I will never understand people surrendering power to tyrants like that. Here's how it will end up.

Senators who used to support more troops in Iraq have flip-flopped now that Bush is providing more troops.

British break up terrorist kidnapping plot. Intended victim and family under guard.

Alternate version of battle in Najaf.

Germany issues warrants for 13 CIA personnel suspected of being involved with renditions.

Egyptians blame Hamas for failure of ceasefire in Gaza.

NATO kills 30 Taliban in Afghanistan.

Suspected terrorist devices in Boston turn out to be Cartoon Network marketing campaign.

Reason on Bush's health insurance plan.

Terrorist on trial.

White House accused of censoring scientists on global warming. Canadian Prime Minister called Kyoto a socialist scheme to suck money out of rich countries.

Mad cow disease may be reversible.

Student forced to remove Florida Gators national championship shirt as "gang-style."

Obama thinks liberal arguments are more often grounded in reason and fact.

It seems everybody in Libby's trial has memory problems. Don't we all.

Lawsuit accuses black leaders of violating white voters' rights. Why isn't this prominent news? Isn' this "man bites dog?"

Global warming caused by solar cycles.

Ban Alert: California representative introduces bill to ban incandescent light bulbs. The free market should be allowed to handle this.

Tunnels between US and Mexico not destroyed because of "lack of funds."

John Stossel points out the problems with the war on drugs.

Brit Jan Moir sees right through Hillary. Let's hope Americans do as well.

With ethanol demand driving up corn prices, Mexicans stage tortilla protest.

Canadian town writes explicit rules to inform immigrants, including "you must not stone women."

Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose" PBS series.

The Road to Serfdom. Picture book.

Free kibbles

Europe refuses to go along with US plans to further isolate Iran. They must like Ahmadinejad.

Palestinian cease-fire in effect. This seems like the 5,000th cease-fire I can remember in the Middle East, and it will probably be just as successful as all the previous cease-fires. Fatah kills Hamas commander in spite of cease-fire. That didn't take long.

African Union rejects Sudan as rotating seat. China to press for peacekeepers.

Islamic militants kill 15 in Algeria.

New global warming report predicts catastrophic water and food shortages.

Chuck Hagel is a political opportunist, which is the opposite of courageous.

McCain and Hillary share loving gaze. I think I'm going to puke.

The Republican candidates suck. At least Rush is saying so this time, instead of being a sycophant like usual.

Ban Alert: California considers banning smoking in apartments.

I say more power to the billionaires. They're living the American dream in the biggest way. I wish I had been so smart.

All female unit of peacekeepers from India deploys in Liberia.

Nobody wants to listen to Air America. Al Franken quits.

Medical procedures causing people to set off dirty bomb alarms.

Threat level raised for Superbowl.

Vista marks end of an era for Microsoft. Good riddance.

List of wait times for Canada's socialized medicine.

John Podhoretz blasts Hillary's "resentment" as the only genuine thing she's said.

Finally, a call for Democrats to dump Harry Reid for his unethical land deals. Tough to be in the spot-light, isn't it Harry?

Rich Lowry points out special prosecutor Fitzgerald's shame.

Many Terrorist Threats

by Mark Luedtke

A common thread runs through the current wars in the world – almost all of them involve radical Islam. It's easy to think of the War on Terror as a war against al Qaeda, the war in Afghanistan, or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that limited viewpoint is dangerous. From Africa to New Guinea, radical Islam is involved in a series of conflagrations. Muslim extremists also conduct terrorist attacks all around the world. By any measure, radical Islam is waging a world war against numerous countries of diverse governments and religions.

Our newspapers naturally focus on Iraq and Afghanistan because American troops are fighting in those countries. To a lesser extent, Somalia is in the news because of our history there, and because of our support for the Somali and Ethiopian governments against the radical Muslims supported by al Qaeda. In these three countries, the radical Muslims are engaged with superior forces, fighting for regional goals, and currently they're not much of a threat to US security, but we can't afford to allow any of those countries to become a safe haven for terrorists to organize and launch attacks against us.

The fluid dynamics of the radical Islam movement make it extremely difficult to track and access threats. The US lists dozens of terrorist organizations, but there are dozens in Iraq alone, and they ally and transform monthly if not weekly.

Since we liberated Afghanistan, al Qaeda has been searching for a new safe haven to reorganize. Their base in the lawless mountains of Pakistan on the Afghan border is so remote that their effectiveness is limited. There are reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban are supported by factions of the Pakistani intelligence services, but even so, their freedom to operate in that environment is severely curtailed by our allies in Pakistan.

Al Qaeda would love to overthrow President Musharraf of Pakistan, create a rogue Islamic state, and get access to Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Al Qaeda and Taliban sympathizers in Pakistan make diplomacy extremely dicey. Musharraf is walking a tightrope, and the US and NATO can't clean out the lawless areas of Pakistan for fear of igniting a popular uprising that would empower al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda is working to establish a new base in Somalia, which would give it strategic assess to the Indian Ocean and Africa. The US is backing Somalia and Ethiopia, but it seems unlikely that Somali leader Abdullahi Yusuf will open his government and gain broad support. The Ethiopians already look like occupiers instead of liberators (much like the US in Iraq), and more Muslim uprisings seem likely. The African Union is reluctant to send in peace-keepers, and the Somalia government is unable to defend itself at this point.

Al Qaeda is also working to establish a safe haven in Bangladesh, resulting in the President suspending elections and creating a caretaker government.

Hezbollah is still the preeminent terrorist organization in the world. Their recent war with Israel showed that they have grown from terrorist organization and militia to a military and economic power capable of stalemating one of the fiercest militaries in the world. Hezbollah has cells in the US, Canada, Europe and South America. They come to America across both our unprotected borders.

Iranian and Syrian support for Hezbollah have made them a major power in the Middle East. Lebanon is on the verge of a civil war that could turn the country over to Hezbollah. Hezbollah has trained al Qaeda members in the past, so losing Lebanon to Hezbollah, with its access to the Mediterranean is a significant danger. Former Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Subji al-Tufeili, recently criticized Hezbollah for pushing Lebanon toward civil war. This might help stop the drive toward civil war.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a movement to re-create Muslim caliphate world-wide, and it's growing fast in popularity in the Middle East. It considers radical Islam's current war with the west unresolvable, an inevitable clash of civilizations, and advocates the non-violent overthrow of non-Muslim governments, only using jihad as a last resort. It could play a significant role in further radicalizing the general population of the Middle East.

Jihad is expanding in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and even into China. The breakaway Russian Republic of Chechnya provides a safe haven for jihadists, and threatens to capture a Russian nuclear weapon. Russian President Putin is turning back democracy and remaking Russia as an authoritarian state, using the threat of terrorism as support. But with a breakaway jihadist haven near nuclear missiles in the Caucasus, the US has very little power to deal with either threat.

But more immediate threats are near to home. Great Britain has a homegrown terrorist problem that spawned the London transit bombing and the recently thwarted US airline terrorist plan. Many British Muslims identify themselves as al Qaeda. France and its neighbors are unable to deal with the riots of Muslim youths. European jihadists are heading to Somalia to fight for al Qaeda's cause.

We have less advanced homegrown terrorists in Canada and the US as well. Our challenge is to defeat radical Islam abroad and in our own back yard without surrendering our freedom after every attack.