Religous Frenzy

By Dr. Tashbih Sayyed:

"As a Moslem, I've followed with great agony and embarrassment the buildup of religious frenzy across the Moslem world in response to the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.

On the one side the show of force by Islamists underlined the extent to which Islam has been hijacked by radicals and on the other side it emphasized the vulnerability of open societies to the growing influence of militant Islam.

Questions are being asked as to why there has traditionally been no effort on the part of Moslems to confront religious absolutism. Many agree that the Moslem silence in the face of growing Islamist radicalism has contributed in creating the perception that Islam is an evil faith.

After all a religion is nothing but a sum total of its adherents' social conduct. The fact that Moslem societies, at least in the modern history, have always presented a picture of violence and conflict, and their religion always seem to be playing a role in this picture, has strengthened the notion that Islam encourages violence.

If Moslem scholars would have condemned the two homicide bombers who attacked the barracks of American and French peacekeepers in Beirut in 1983, homicide bombings would not have gained currency and nobody would have been identifying Islam with terrorism.

But they remained silent as the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility and declared that it was an Islamic act. Their silence betrayed their complicity in the crime and today they have no right to complain as to why the non-Moslem world is presenting their faith in such unflattering colors.

With this primitive sociology on display every day in the Moslem world, can anyone in his or her right mind blame the non-Moslems for blaming Islam?

Why shouldn't a non-Moslem think that Islam is an evil faith when all of the fatawas (religious rulings) issued in Saudi Arabia and Egypt justify these killers and homicide bombers? Why has there been not a single fatwa that declares these barbarians infidel?

I am a Moslem and a Sayyed. That means that I am a direct descendent of Prophet Mohammed. I know that a true follower of Prophet Mohammed cannot support, train, sponsor and direct homicide bombings. "


Dr. Tashbih Sayyed is editor-in-chief of Moslem World Today, president of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance, and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.

The Fork in the Road

"It's beginning to sink in to a lot of folks - from the State Department to the French Foreign Ministry to Egyptian intelligence - that Iran's Ahmadinejad is far more dangerous and wacko than the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Perhaps most interesting is that France is bellying up to the anti-Iran bar. There has been a major fallout, for example, between France and Hezbollah, the Iran-sponsored terrorist outfit. Chirac is so worried now about a major Hezbollah terrorist attack in Paris that he threatened Iran he would retaliate with nuclear missiles.

Finally we have arrived at Yogi Berra's fork in the road. Yogi advised that, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." When both France and the US agree that the Ahmadinejad regime in Tehran has to be removed, you know we've arrived."

--- Dr. Jack Wheeler

US Teams Helping Iraq Develop High-End National Police Force
Washington File - Washington,DC,USA
Washington -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his terrorist network have turned their sights from coalition forces and made the innocent men, women and children of ...

Russia sees U.S. as barrier to WTO
Russian Economy Minister German Gref expressed frustration with the United States yesterday over Russia's stalled effort to join the World Trade Organization.

France Condemns Iran Nuke Program, U.S. Steps up Action

WASHINGTON - France is joining a growing list of nations accusing Iran of secretly building nuclear weapons. It is the sharpest attack by one of the European countries that have tried to negotiate with Iran. Read on.

Dispelling the Myths of Global Warming

(CBN News) - Environmentalists are not only working to keep America from developing new sources of oil, they are also blaming this unusually active hurricane season on global warming.

They say humans have caused climate changes leading to severe weather that is threatening the planet.

But is there any truth behind their claims, or are they merely based on junk science? Read on.

Iraqi forces now conducting more independent ops than coalition

The Iraq Army has surpassed the U.S.-led coalition in independent operations.

Officials said that in December 2005 the Iraq Army conducted more independent operations than the coalition. They termed this a milestone in the development of the Iraqi military. Read on.

Tunisia approves U.S. bases, troops

Tunisia has approved the deployment of American troops as well as U.S. access to military bases in the North African state.

Officials said Tunisia has relayed agreement in principle for a small American military presence. They said details of a U.S.-Tunisian accord were being drafted. Read on.

Saudis to double refining capacity

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia plans to double its oil refining capacity by 2011.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nueimi said the kingdom would increase refining capacity to six million barrels per day within five years. The minister said the project was meant to help stabilize the global market, reported to have experienced a shortage in refined oil, Middle East Newsline reported. Read on.

U.K. Tories: Iran force must be an option

LONDON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The British Conservative Party has urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to keep open the possibility of military force against Iran over its nuclear programs. Read more ...

US-Mexican border threatened by 'super-cartels'

Imagine, if you will, a network of well-armed, expertly trained paramilitary units on the US border collaborating with narcotics gangs whose finances rival that of most countries. Nightmare scenario? Not really. This is reality just south of the US border in what some experts have called the region a new narco-state within Mexico. Read more ...

TURKEY SEIZES IRAN-BOUND ITALIAN ALUMINIUM

Tehran (AKI) - Turkish authorities have seized two trucks transporting to Iran a haul of Italian-made "heavy aluminium", a substance which can be used in the nuclear weapons manufacturing process. The trucks were blocked at the Gurbulak border post beween Turkey and Iran last December, but Turkish authorities only announced the seizure this week, through foreign trade minister, Kursad Tuzman, who did not provide additional details. Read more ...

Is Time Running Out?

For years, the United States supported both Iran and Iraq simultaneously and in different ways. The purpose for doing so, was to keep a balance between these two countries so that neither one would get a strong upper hand on the other. We wanted a balance between these two warring countries, so one would not invade and take over the other.

Now that we have torn down Iraq, they are not in any position to defend themselves against an Iran invasion and they won'’t be for quite some time. The global community has no appetite for a prolonged U.S. presence in Iraq, nor does Iraq, nor do we.

With Iran'’s hot pursuit of nuclear weapons, and their hate for the West, and being mindful of their threats, we have to be keenly aware of the problems before us. Diplomacy is not going to quell their hatred for us, will not suppress their nuclear desires, nor squelch their desires for a global caliphate.

Taking all this into consideration, what we have here is a country (Iran) that is a threat to us, and a country (Iraq) that cannot adequately defend itself, and if we are not going to be staying there for an extended period of time, there seems to be only one solution to keep Iraq from being overrun by Iran.

So when do we attack?

Gambia holds two for filming U.S. embassy: sources

BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian authorities have arrested two people of Lebanese origin for videotaping sensitive government installations and the U.S. embassy, security sources in the West African country said on Friday. Read more ...

Yet Again, Another Example ...............

........ of why the U.N. is not only worthless, but it is not capable of change for its betterment.

US handling of UN reform angers developing nations
Reuters AlertNet - London,England,UK
UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) - US Ambassador John Bolton's drive to crack down on UN fraud and abuse is triggering a backlash from developing nations who ...

We wouldn't want to crackdown on fraud and abuse, now would we? What's in it for me, the diplomat, if I can't sit at my desk at Turtle Bay and engage in fraudulent activities, lining my own pockets? Are we not in the land of the free?

Lobbyists have given more to Democrats

Democrats have taken more money from lobbyists than Republicans during the past 15 years, according to an independent analysis of campaign contributions. Read on.

Media Hysteria

By Hugh Hewitt
From Beyond the News

The vice president's hunting accident last week quickly turned from a story with a humorous edge to a more serious one due to the medical complications experienced by the vice president's friend Harry Whittington. If Mr. Whittington recovers fully, as he is expected to do, the jokes will return. In the meantime, though, the public has all the facts and the story ought to move off the front pages.

But it won't because of a hysteria in the White House press room, a fervor and a fury demonstrating the vanity of that pampered bunch, who have shown a mob-like rage at not having been the first to know of the accident. As this week's spectacles from the press briefings have again demonstrated, the big media talking heads are rabidly anti-Bush and eager for a scandal. When the Washington Post columnist compared the accident to Chappaquiddick, a new low had been reached.

There isn't much if anything more to be learned about the accident, but we are getting another lesson in media bias.

Outdoor Smoking Ban in California City Takes Effect Next Month

An outdoor smoking ban is set to take effect in March in a California city that has outlawed smoking in all outdoor places, including sidewalks and streets, except for small outdoor "smoker outposts." Read on.

The "Oh so wise" Hollywood

Impeaching Bush Is 'Cause Worth Fighting for,' Actor Says
Actor Richard Dreyfuss told an audience in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that "there are causes worth fighting for," and one of those is the impeachment of President George W. Bush. Full Story

Bin Laden Sought White 'Sleeper' Agent, Court Told

A court case in Australia has revealed that al Qaeda tried to recruit a Caucasian Australian as a "sleeper agent," an allegation that focuses new attention on the risks posed by individuals who blend into Western societies while doing the bidding of terrorist masters abroad. Full Story

Interpreter of 'Saddam Tapes' Suggests ABC Got It Wrong

On Wednesday night, ABC News played excerpts of tape recordings from the mid-1990s in which Saddam Hussein predicts a future WMD attack on the United States. But former U.N. weapons inspector Bill Tierney, the man who interpreted those tapes, says ABC News misinterpreted what Saddam was saying in those tapes. Read more.

Now We Must Hate Ourselves

A few days ago I posted an article on multiculturalism, i.e. political correctness, that was written, not by me, but by Mr. William S. Lind, Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism of the Free Congress Foundation. A commenter left a "not so politically correct" comment and called me and idiot and a racist.

The Daily Ablution apparently has recently experienced a similar situation. He has a good post Cultural Equivalence is Self-Hatred - Now We Must All Hate Ourselves .

His politcally correct commenter basically was making the argument that the bigotry that has in the past expressed itself as racism now takes the form of "culturism" - the evil, misguided view that some cultures are morally superior to others in an absolute sense - and that this new bigotry must be resisted, as racism was.

The Daily Ablution correctly points out that those on the left believe all cultures are equal and it is now their goal to seek and to "impose a stigma equivalent to that of 'racist' upon those who argue that some cultures are inherently superior to others."

Further, he states:

"To my mind, the argument of cultural equivalence is rather easily rebutted, along the following lines:

• Every culture must surely consist of both good and bad characteristics; and,
• It is so unlikely as to be impossible that the proportion of good to bad in every culture on earth is precisely equal, given that they're so "diverse"; ergo, some cultures are superior to others."

Go read the rest, he makes some other good points.

The Olympic Flame is Burning Brightly - Drats!

This story was mentioned on the Rush Limbaugh show yesterday. The enviro wackos were not successful in their quest to have the Olympic torch turned down to recognize the Kyoto treaty.

Olympic flame burns bright despite global warming anniversary
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
... force Thursday as organizers ignored a request from environmentalists that it be turned down in honor of the first anniversary of a key global warming treaty. ...

HOMELAND INSECURITY

Probe finds terrorists in U.S. 'training for war'
Neighbors of Muslim encampment fear retaliation if they report to police

Entrance to Hancock, N.Y., encampment (Courtesy Northeast Intelligence Network)


The Pakistani terrorist group Jamaat ul Fuqra is using Islamic schools in the United States as training facilities, confirms a joint investigative report by an intelligence think tank and an independent reporter. Read it at WND.

THE MISSING MESSAGE

"We are fighting to find a voice under difficult circumstances, and I'm confident, over the next few months, you are going to see that happen. Our megaphone is just not as large as their megaphone, and we have a harder time getting that message out, even when people are on the same page." —John Kerry, the eternal optimist

Holy crap, John. You've got all of broadcast television and cable (save Fox) as your megaphone, not too mention most of the major print media, i.e. New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, etc., etc.

You're not missing the megaphone, John. Your problem is the message. THERE IS NONE! We've been waiting 45 years or so for a message. I think the last one was when John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." That's it, John. Since then - nothing - for 45 years.

"We can do better" won't cut it. A better plan - a secret plan- to win and end the war in Iraq that you espoused while running for the presidency, and which still remains a secret while our men and women are still dying I might add, doesn't qualify as a message either. "A better America" makes a good bumper sticker John, but is not much of a message.

You see. What we are looking for are "actionable ideas", John. Get it? You know what I mean by "actionable ideas", John?

Most likely not as gauged by the lack of legislation you have authored.

Heh, heh.....

All I got was this lousy t-shirt. Heh, heh. Picture lifted from Water Cooler Wisdom.

"The era of big government is over. The era of REALLY BIG government is just getting started, to be followed eventually by the era of government so big that it blocks out the sun and has its own gravitational field."

—James Lileks

ABOUT THE NEW PROGRAM CALLED 'LARK'

A couple of days ago I posted that a UN panel was recommending that the U.S. close camp Gitmo. And of course it is now being reported the Secretary General Kofi Annan is pressuring us to do so.

Coincidentally, I received this tongue-in-cheek email today (I've seen it before, but it made its' round again). Anyway, I thought it just might be appropriate, under the present circumstances, to send the email to Mr. Annan.

Re: THE LARK PROGRAM

A Lady liberal/Democrat/progressive/libertarian wrote a lot of letters to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive insurgent (terrorist) being held in Guantanamo Bay. She received back the following reply:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20016

Dear Concerned Citizen,

Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington. You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short.

In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care. Your personal detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence next Monday.

Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers.

We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter.

Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will help him overcome these character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling.

Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually), since he views females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire. I'm sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka -- over time.

Just remember that it is all part of "respecting his culture and his religious beliefs" -- wasn't that how you put it?

Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job. You take good care of Ahmed - and remember...we'll be watching.

Good luck!
Cordially, your friend,


General Peter Pace
Chairman,Joint Chiefs of Staff

"Let's not just limit special projects earmarked for specific congressional districts. Make porkbarrel illegal, period. Let the federal government deal only with things that have national import, as defined by the enumerated powers in the Constitution." —Paul Jacob

TAKING ONE VICTORY AT A TIME

This story is from the Thomas More Law Center which HeavyHanded is a supporter of and a proud contributor. To join HeavyHanded in this effort and make a tax deductible donation to them, go here.

Two Public Interest Law Firms Thwart Efforts to Remove Ten Commandments Monument In Pleasant Grove City, Utah

ANN ARBOR, MI — Thanks to the determination of Pleasant Grove City, Utah, officials and the collaboration of two national Christian public interest law firms, the Society of Separationists failed in their three-year effort to remove a Ten Commandments monument in that City. Yesterday, Utah federal district court Judge Bruce S. Jenkins dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit brought by the Separationists against the City and several of its officials.

The Ten Commandments monument has stood in a park in Pleasant Grove City since 1971. However, the Separationists sued the City in 2003, claiming the monument, which had been donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, violated the Establishment Clause to the United States Constitution and the Utah Constitution.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the American Center for Law and Justice office in New Hope, Kentucky, joined forces to represent the city and its officials.

In 2004, Judge Jenkins entered an order in favor of the City and dismissed the case, noting that the Ten Commandments are an “acknowledgment of one historic source of guidance and direction, one time-honored source of standards of human conduct.” He went on to explain that the public display of the Ten Commandments is “as much for the benefit and interest of the unchurched or non-religious as for the benefit of more than one evolving religious tradition,” especially since the “‘history of man is inseparable from the history of religion.’”

The Separationists appealed the dismissal and the appellate court, in light of the recent United States Supreme Court cases involving the public display of the Ten Commandments, remanded the case to the trial court in October 2005 for further factual development.

In a legal maneuver to keep the option for a future lawsuit against the city, in January 2006 the Separationists requested that its case be dismissed but argued that it be dismissed without prejudice, which would allow the Separationists to file the same lawsuit again against the City.

At a February 9, 2006 hearing, Edward L. White III, trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, argued that the case should be dismissed with prejudice to prevent the Separationists from re-filing the case and imposing cumulative expenses on the City. In his six-page order, Judge Jenkins agreed and dismissed the case with prejudice.

According to White, “We are pleased that Judge Jenkins has dismissed this case in a way to stop the Separationists from bringing the same lawsuit again in the future.”

The battle over the Ten Commandments monument in Pleasant Grove City continues however. Another group, known as Summum, has filed a separate lawsuit related to the monument. The Thomas More Law Center and the American Center for Law and Justice are defending the City together in that action as well.

Raising Taxes to Pay for Savings

Maine has to raise taxes to pay for all the "savings" of its health-care program.
BY TARREN BRAGDON AND ADAM BRACKEMYRE

FIGHTING BACK

Retailers fight back against the new union "Wal-Mart" laws. Read more.

Overhaul of U.N. rights body hits snag

A drive by a bloc of Islamic nations for a global ban on "defamation of religions and prophets" has thrown a major kink into U.S. hopes for an overhaul of the leading U.N. human rights body.

US Lawmakers Question Foreign Management of US Ports

Both Republicans and Democrats are urging the U.S. government to take a closer look at a deal that would turn over management of major U.S. ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates... Read on.

Iran Has ‘Bought’ Russia and China Vetoes, Senator Says

With growing concern about Iran’s uranium enrichment program and its presumed plans to produce nuclear weapons, experts gathered in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to discuss Chinese and Russian interests in the program... Read on.

Kyoto-Enthusiasts Struggle to Meet Targets

Europe’s top environment official marked the one-year anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol on Thursday by accusing the U.S. of not doing enough to combat climate change – even though many of the treaty’s most enthusiastic supporters have done significantly worse than America in dealing with “greenhouse gas” emissions... Read on.

SEARCHING FOR AN ANSWER

Why is it that much of the media will not print the cartoons of Mohammed, but are almost downright giddy to print "new" pictures taken at Abu Graib prison from over 3 years ago?

THE SPOILED BRATS OF THE MEDIA

"NBC White House correspondent David Gregory was shouting at White House press secretary Scott McClellan, as if Mr. Gregory's Constitutional rights were being violated. It was a classic example of a special interest demanding special privileges -- as if they were rights.

There is nothing in the Constitution or the laws that says that the media have a right to be in the White House at all, much less to have press conferences.

This has become a customary courtesy over the years, but courtesy is a two-way street, except for those in the media who act like spoiled brats, as if they have some inherent right to whatever serves their institutional, career, or ideological purposes."

-- Thomas Sowell (Read article here.)

"[T]he argument of flexibility...goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that." —Justice Antonin Scalia

Cutting Back on the Advanced Technology Program

"Speaking of corporate welfare, The Heritage Foundation’s Policy Blog cheers President Bush’s proposed $79 million cut in the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). Most funding for ATP “goes to projects for which private funding is readily available,” benefiting large corporations which already spend millions on research and development, such as IBM, General Electric, and Motorola."

10 Good Reasons to Cut Corporate Welfare

Competitive Enterprise Institute journalism fellow Tim Carney finds 10 good reasons to cut corporate welfare, a significant contributor to the 2.47 trillion of our tax dollars the U.S. government is set to spend this year.

Telling the Truth in Turkey

By David Aikman
Beyond the News

Many people know that one of the first terrible acts of genocide in the 20th century was the Turkish deportation and massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during World War I. The problem is that the Turks themselves have never admitted this atrocity.

Recently they even put on trial a popular Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk, who had the courage to remind them of that atrocity. His crime?--he was charged with insulting Turkish identity.

Under great pressure from the European Union, which Turkey wants to join, a Turkish court dismissed the charges against Pamuk. But the statute making an attack on so-called "Turkish identity" punishable by a prison sentence remains on the books.

Nations only become healthy by admitting the truth about their past both to themselves and others. Pamuk deserves the applause of truth-seekers everywhere for his honesty and courage.

"The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust."

—Samuel Butler

"The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses." —Albert Einstein

"[L]et there be no change [in Constitutional powers] by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed." —George Washington

Judge blocks transfer to Iraqi custody of an American citizen
NewKerala.com - Ernakulam,Kerala,India
... has blocked the transfer to Iraqi custody of an American citizen being held in Baghdad who US military says an associate of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the head of ...

China denies spying on United States after 2 charged in missile ...
Canada.com - Hamilton,Ontario,Canada
... the United States after US officials charged a Taiwanese man and a Frenchman with trying to export missiles, a jet engine and other military equipment to China ...

This is what happens....

....when you screw around with your base, use them, take advantage of them and display a lack of leadership and guts.

Take Heed, Republicans
By Paul M. Weyrich
Lots and lots of conservatives are telling me they do not intend to vote in the 2006 election. Others are saying they will vote for third-party candidates. Stay-at-home voters are a huge problem for Republicans, and it is easy to see why grassroots conservatives are discouraged. But there are at least two good reasons to go to the polling place in November…

'Able Danger’ Identified 9/11 Hijacker 13 times
Washington (CNSNews.com) - The top secret, military intelligence unit known as “Able Danger” identified Mohammed Atta, the leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, 13 times before the 2001 attacks, according to new information released Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees...

Intelligence Summit to Air ‘Saddam’s WMD Tapes’
(CNSNews.com) – The organizers of an upcoming “Intelligence Summit” reportedly have 12 hours of Saddam Hussein’s audio recordings, which they describe as the “smoking gun evidence” that the Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction in the period leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq...

Related:
Secret Saddam WMD Tapes Subject of ABC Nightline Special
Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC “Nightline” program Wednesday night, a former federal prosecutor told Cybercast News Service...

From the Mouths of Babes …

… to the Pockets of Oil Execs
The New York Times found a new beef with Big Oil this week as it complained about drilling companies paying less to the federal government. Unfortunately, the Times engaged in zero-sum pro-spending economics, implying that Bush could have used oil money to save growing entitlement programs from budget “cuts.” Read on.

Cable Firms Prefer One Choice - Theirs

Source: Free Market Project
Do you watch all of your 100 cable channels? No? Wouldn’t it be great if you paid only for the channels you want? The market is eager for a la carte cable, but the industry is a government-protected monopoly that keeps consumers from saving. Full commentary.

Here a Cut, There a Cut

From the Free Market Project

Media coverage is filled with wailing over budget “cuts” to still-growing federal programs. According to some journalists, kids won’t be able to go to college and have a future because of reductions in student loan programs. But they’re missing perspective in the political “cutting” war.

Reigning in Entitlements

By Janet Parshall
Beyond the News

The president has just unveiled his 2007 budget--and it's going to make some politicians squirm. His proposal is built on the concept of furthering those ideas that work, like spending restraint and making tax relief permanent. The president's goal is to cut the deficit in half by 2009, which can only be achieved by holding discretionary spending below inflation.

But the most controversial part of the budget proposal is the call to slow the future growth of entitlement spending over the next five years--an idea that could save us $65 billion dollars. He believes the greatest threat we face financially is the unsustainable growth in programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And he's right!

Congress must work now to plan for America's future and they need to immediately begin a robust debate on repairing the Social Security system, which is indisputably broken.

If Congress cannot find the will to tighten our financial buckle, then they will have to will monstrous debt to generations to come.

Officials in U.S. deny plot on Hamas
U.S. officials said yesterday that they want the future Hamas-led Cabinet to "succeed" and denied any intention of "thwarting the will" of the Palestinian people by undermining their legitimately elected government.

Ehrlich to veto bill on felons
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday vowed to veto a bill that would restore voting rights to felons, including the state's most violent criminals, immediately upon their release from prison.

NATO allies cut military since 9/11
America's major NATO allies have cut military manpower and defense funds as a share of their economies since the September 11 attacks, in sharp contrast with the United States, which embarked on deficit spending to boost arms outlays to fight global terrorism....

More Bad News on the Economy

No, wait! This is good news isn't it? You probably won't see it in much of the mainstream media. If you do, it will be just another example of good news being bad news. Wo is me! Damn economy.

Retail sales see best gains since late '99
Consumers, energized by unusually warm weather and the tame heating bills that went with it, hit the malls with gusto last month, sending retail sales soaring by 2.2 percent -- the biggest jump in six years.

Interesting and a bit Surprising

China Shuts 76 Web Sites, Arrests 18 in Online Piracy Crackdown
Bloomberg - USA
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- China's government shut down 76 Web sites for providing downloads of Hollywood movies, music and other illegal content, responding to ...

Jordan condemns al-Qaida's al-Zarqawi to death
Ireland Online - Dublin,Ireland
A military court today condemned nine men to death , including al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for plotting a chemical attack that would have ...

'Bin Ladenism'

The Pentagon's vision for the "Long War."

BY BRENDAN MINITER

At a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington recently, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sized up the progress of the war on terror, compared it to the struggle against Nazism and communism, and noted this struggle will take years to win. It was similar to remarks the president, the vice president and other top administration officials have been repeating for years. And it also is the line of reasoning that the press corps has largely dismissed as hyperbole. Many in the media simply don't accept the comparison of Osama bin Laden to Hitler.

How Castro stretches his tyranny to other shores.

10 Months in the Bahamas

Fidel Castro's depredations inside Cuba are by now well known. But less widely appreciated is how Fidel sometimes manages to imprison Cubans in other domiciles even once they've escaped his government's clutches........

Ontario Canada Set To Pass Anti-Sharia Law To Protect Muslim Women

What is unique about this law is that it is being introduced for one purpose only: to prevent Muslims from participating in a successful arbitration process that sanctions arbitration of custodial and marital disputes by religious tribunals.

Read it at Lost Budgie.

COMMENTARY

Modern Day Silly Talk
By Walter E. Williams

Corruption of language is pervasive, much of it for political purposes. When I was young, there were bums, vagabonds, tramps and hobos. Today, they’ve disappeared to be replaced by homeless people. Also, during my youth, we played cowboys and Indians; now it’s cowboys and Native Americans. People used to be categorized by sex; now it’s gender. It’s worth remembering that John Milton predicted, “When language in common use in any country becomes irregular and depraved, it is followed by their ruin and degradation.”

COMMENTARY

How the Cartoon Protests Harm Muslims
By Daniel Pipes
What are the long-term consequences of the Muhammad cartoon furor? Instead of leading to a clash of civilizations, I predict it will produce their mutual pulling apart. This separation, which has been building for years, has dreadful implications...

I hope this poll is wrong........

Or are we as a nation, really this stupid?

POLL: More Americans Trust United Nations Than Bush To Handle Iran ...
Think Progress - Washington,DC,USA
The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Americans put more confidence in the United Nations to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons than they do ...

How in God's green earth do we attain the notion that the U.N. is good at anything; and how will they be able to stop Iran from working towards their goal of nukes?

"Wherever indeed a right of property is infringed for the general good, if the nature of the case admits of compensation, it ought to be made; but if compensation be impracticable, that impracticability ought to be an obstacle to a clearly essential
reform."

-- Alexander Hamilton

Princess Diana Investigation

Surprise hinted at in Diana inquiry
A former London police chief says the results of an ongoing investigation into the death of Princess Diana, who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997, may surprise the British.

Finding a Way Out.

I like this. Just how is the UN (and the 'global community') gonna' find a way out of this mess. If a rogue country with vast cultural problems (like Iran) is hell-bent on getting nukes, no amount of cajoling is going to change their deepest desires - to get nukes to make the earth burn beneath the infidels feet.

Annan calls for U.S. calm on Iran
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday warned President Bush not to "escalate" tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions because the world wants to "find a way out of this crisis."

I am sure Kofi has a plan. He probably developed it along with the Dems help because the Dems have so many plans like the one about........ or maybe the one where...................... or, maybe not.

C'mon, This Should Surprise No One.

Does this surprise you?

FEMA wasted millions in Katrina aid
In its rush to provide Katrina disaster aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasted millions of dollars and overpaid for hotel rooms, including $438-a-day lodging in New York City, government investigators said yesterday.

It does not surprise me at all.

This is TRULY Surprising - No Sarcasm Intended

Party elders attack China censors
BBC News - UK
A group of former senior Communist party officials in China have launched a scathing attack on the country's handling of the media and information. ...

They said strict censorship may "sow the seeds of disaster" for China's political transition.

.......this open outburst against China's media censors is all the more surprising because of who it comes from. Read on.

SUCKING UP TO THE SAUDIS

By JAMES TARANTO
Opinion Journal

Our Friend Al Gore
The man who came within a hair's breadth of the presidency in 2000 is denouncing his own government on foreign soil, the Associated Press reports:

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

There is a comical element to this, as Glenn Reynolds notes: "Only Al Gore could come up with the idea of criticizing Bush for not sucking up to the Saudis enough. Sigh."

Heh. Indeed. But blogger "TigerHawk" makes some serious points:

This is asinine both substantively and procedurally.

Substantively, the idea that cracking down on Saudi visa applications is "playing into al Qaeda's hands" is laughable. Had we scrutinized Saudi visas a little more carefully in 2001, thousands of Americans who died on September 11 that year might well have lived. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on that day were Saudi nationals. If we had denied some or all of them visas, exactly how would that have "played into al Qaeda's hands"? . . .

Procedurally, Gore's speech is repugnant. It is one thing to say such things to an American audience in an effort to change our policy. . . . It is, however, another thing entirely to travel to a foreign country that features pivotally in the war of our generation for the purpose of denouncing American policies in front of the affected foreign audience. It is especially problematic to mess with Saudi political opinions, which are subject to intensive influence and coercion by internal actors and the United States, al Qaeda, and Iran, among other powers. Supposing that some Saudis were inclined to be angry over the American visa policy, won't they be more angry after Al Gore has told them that they're being humiliated? How is that helpful?

Finally, Gore's outrage at the American treatment of Arab and Muslim captives may be genuine, and it may even be worthy of expression in the United States, where we aspire to do better than press accounts suggest we have done. But whatever nasty things we have done in exceptional cases in time of war, they pale in comparison to the standard operating procedure in Saudi Arabia. So this is what Gore has done: he has traveled to Jiddah to explain to the elites of an ugly and tyrannical regime that the big problem in the world isn't the oppression of Arabs by Arabs throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but the mistreatment of a few hundred Arabs in the United States. This is like visiting Moscow in 1970 and denouncing the United States in front of a bunch of Communist Party deputies for the killings at Kent State. . . .

There is simply no defense for what Gore has done here, for he is deliberately undermining the United States during a time of war, in a part of the world crucial to our success in that war, in front of an audience that does not vote in American elections. Gore's speech is both destructive and disloyal, not because of its content--which is as silly as it is subversive--but because of its location and its intended audience.

The only consolation is that Gore likely would have done a lot more damage had he spent four years in the White House. And given the precedent set by Jimmy Carter, it isn't hard to imagine Gore as an embittered one-term ex-president giving the same speech in Jeddah.

MORE MONEY WASTED

Looks like another example of money going down a black hole:

U.S. gives Mexico millions for security
"The U.S. government has sent more than $376 million to Mexico in the past decade for that country's military and police to help stop alien and drug smugglers, guard against terrorists and protect America's southern border, including $50 million due this year...."

It sure as hell does not look like it's working.

SCREW YOU!

Close Gitmo, says U.N. panel
A United Nations' inquiry will call for the immediate closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the prosecution of officers and politicians "up to the highest level" who are accused of torturing detainees. READ ON.

The U.N. needs to stay out of our way and stick to the things they do best like ...........................
................ ummmm...........

Stop Worrying About the Trade Deficit

America's trade deficit -- in December reaching a near-record $64.7 billion -- is unfortunate, right? Wrong. Contrary to popular opinion, this so-called "deficit" is a blessing. Read on.

A Strategy for Iran

The United States needs a regional strategy to respond to the growing threat of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Economic sanctions, military force and ... Read on...

THIS IS ONE BIG SHOCKER

The world's most 'culturally advanced' country has been embarrassed. France rapped over human rights. Europe's human rights watchdog criticises France over its law enforcement and prison system. Read on...

THEY CAN'T BE SERIOUS, CAN THEY?

From LGF: Arab Company May Run East Coast Ports

"Great. Just great. Arab Biz May Run NYC port."

The city’s ports, considered a major target of terrorists, are about to be taken over by a firm based in the United Arab Emirates, a country with financial links to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Dubai Ports World is set to complete a $6.8 billion deal to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a London company that already runs commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami.

If shareholders approve the deal tomorrow, it will give control of various dock operations at some of the country’s busiest points of entry to UAE-headquartered DP World.

The FBI has said most of the money for the 2001 terror attacks was funneled to hijackers through UAE banks, and much of the planning took place in the small but rich nation east of Saudi Arabia.

Churchillian Insight

The American Thinker points out that a little over a century ago, when at the tender age of 25, Winston Churchill wrote a book called The River War, and in it he penned:

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.

The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceasedto be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities – but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.

[Hat tip Barcepundit]

Fast forward 107 years to today, and not much has changed. Has it?

THWARTING IRAN'S NUKE PLANS

Barcepundit makes note of this article in TODAY'S Sunday Telegraph in the UK:

Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb.

Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

They are reporting to the office of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, as America updates plans for action if the diplomatic offensive fails to thwart the Islamic republic's nuclear bomb ambitions. Teheran claims that it is developing only a civilian energy programme.

"This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment," said a senior Pentagon adviser. "This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months."

Barcepundit quips, "Not much hard evidence in the piece, but it would be foolish to think that such planning is not taking place. But this report sounds more like a calculated leak / warning than anything else, which is fine with me..."

Fine with me too.

UPDATE:

A.J. Strata at The Strata-Sphere posts:
"Actually, we do this on a regular basis. We update attack plans with the latest intel and rehearse the logistics. I had the pleasure of helping prototype the systems that help do the planning effort. But they are also serious. My suspicion is we not only are increasing the virtual rehearsals, we are pre-positioning the required resources. As can be seen in the reporting:

“This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment,” said a senior Pentagon adviser. “This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months.”

I said it a while ago that we would not allow Iran to have access to nuclear WMD and the ability to distribute it to terrorists. Their bluff will be called by this summer. And Republicans will probably pay a price at the polls for it. But you do what you have to do."

FAITH AND HOPE

An interesting post on faith and hope can be found at Babalu Blog, inspired by Lech Walesa being in Miami this weekend as part of a U.S. tour. Last Thursday Walesa spoke to a gathering of about 200 people about Cuba's future post-Castro. Go read it here.

FURTHER PROOF

Further proof that Hollywood is wacked; Sigourney Weaver quoted as saying, "I think Hillary Clinton would make a very good president—I think the reason she’ll lose is because she’s a woman and because she was the first lady, and that’s a shame. America’s in a really weird macho phase right now and I think that’s one reason why all these smaller, more delicate movies like Brokeback Mountain are important. The fact that they’re so popular is sending a nice message. Of course, our president still hasn’t bothered to see Brokeback but he will be continued to be asked about it, I’m sure."

Imbeciles. [Hat tip to Tim Blair.]