Positive Recent Developments on Free Speech

The FEC Listened
Captain's Quarters

"The FEC announced its new regulations last night, the timing of which would normally bode ill for free-speech advocates, but it appears that the regulatory body has avoided regulating blogs at all."

Classy Economist

Jason L. Riley of Opinion Journal interviewed Thomas Sowell and writes an article about the interview. It's a good insight into this great thinker. I liked this:

"My job was to teach them economics, not teach them what I happen to believe," says Mr. Sowell, who adds that efforts by some today to counterbalance the prevailing liberalism in academia with more right-wing instructors is not only an exercise in futility but a disservice to students. "Even if you succeed in propagandizing the students while they're students, it doesn't tell you much [about how they'll turn out]. I suspect that over half [of the conservatives at the Hoover Institution] were on the left in their 20s. More important, though, let's assume for the sake of argument that, whatever you're propagandizing them with on the left or right, every conclusion you teach them is correct. It's only a matter of time before all those conclusions are obsolete because entirely different issues are going to arise over the lifetimes of these students. And so, if you haven't taught them how to weigh one argument against another, you haven't taught them anything."

A New Study Shows Immigrants costing Americans their jobs

A new study by the Centre for Immigration Studies reports that from March 2000 to March 2005, there has been a decrease of over 3 million workers, who were born in America, who have a high school diploma or less; while during this same period of time, the number of working immigrants with the same education level increased by 1.5 million.

BURYING HEAD WHERE?

President Bush

"To me, [saying the next President will determine when U.S. troops exit Iraq] shows how dangerously incompetent [President Bush] is. 'Stay the course, mission accomplished, bring 'em on' —the American people are sick of that. We need to change course in Iraq... I think the President burying his head in the sand is not going to do the trick." —Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, poster boy for Democrat pantywaists


Senator 'Dirty Harry' Reid

Another charade at the United Nations

WASHINGTON - The tragedy of the latest United Nations effort to reform its discredited Human Rights Commission, approved last week by the General Assembly, is not that it's a breathtaking defense of the status quo. It surely appears to be that - under the rules of the new Human Rights Council, not even genocidal states such as Sudan could be categorically denied membership.

No, the real sadness lies in the fact that so many of the supposed defenders of human rights have endorsed this charade, while chastising the United States for voting against it. Their ire suggests that a destructive ideology now infects the human rights movement - a mix of anti-Americanism and utopian internationalism. Continue ....

COOL PHOTO

SUNSET AT THE NORTHPOLE

Click to Enlarge

"What should Democrats do? They ought to stand up and say the tools we're using to protect the American people shouldn't be used. They ought to take their message to the people—and say 'Vote for me, I promise we're not going to have a terrorist-surveillance program'."

—President Bush, calling the Democrats' bluff on their disingenuous anti-surveillance complaints

EU warns Palestinians of aid cutoff

LONDON — "For the first time, the European Union has warned of a suspension of aid to the Palestinian Authority.........."

Is it because Hamas has retracted its' declaration of destruction - the destruction of Israel? No.

Is it because of deteriorating security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? Well, yes.

But more specifically:

EU officials said Brussels could not approve aid to any entity that was too dangerous to enable a monitoring effort. They said the torching of EU offices in Ramallah and Gaza City has endangered plans to provide 500 million euros to the Palestinians in 2006.

Officials said the PA has been unable to protect EU personnel or interests in the Gaza Strip. They said most EU personnel have left the area, the exception being monitors at the Rafah border terminal. The monitors live in Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.

[SNIP]

In a statement in Brussels, Ms. Ferrero Waldner warned of a suspension of aid to the PA and Palestinians unless security was assured. She said such a prospect would not reflect any EU intention to punish the Palestinians.

Saudis to maintain oil reserves to meet 'growing demand'

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has pledged to maintain at least 1.5 million barrels of oil per day in spare production capacity in an effort to stabilize prices.

AFRICA: Iran, Nigeria strengthening military ties

Iran and Nigeria are continuing to discuss joint defense and military programs as part of bilateral cooperation launched in 2005.

Officials said this has included the prospect of Iranian arms sales to Nigeria, one of the biggest energy producers in Africa. MORE....

School for UFO-spotters

A flying saucer school teaching UFO-spotters how to react if they meet an alien has opened in Russia.

The opening of the new UFO and Paranormal College, run by the Ufology Commission in Togliatti follows a spate of crop circles in the region.

According to Tatiana Markova, chairwoman of the Commission, the school was opened in response to renewed local interest in the paranormal. MORE.....

Opposition: Iran shielding nuke program on campuses

WASHINGTON — Iran is using its campuses to conduct nuclear weapons research and development programs.

The Iranian opposition said Teheran has used schools and universities to conceal the nation's nuclear weapons program. The opposition said schools have not been inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Given Teheran's record of lies and deceptions, using academic institutions to develop a nuclear bomb, makes it even more difficult to stop Iran's secret development of a nuclear weapon," Alireza Jafarzadeh, a leading member of the Iranian opposition, told a briefing in Washington on March 20.
READ ON...

A LACK OF TRUE COMMITMENT

Russia and China bridle at paying UN more
MSNBC - USA
The US has sparked protests from Russia and China by proposing a fundamental change to the way contributions to the United Nations are calculated that would ...

"If you don't fight evil, you end up fighting those who are fighting evil."
--- Dennis Prager

A Legacy of Liberation

By Hugh Hewitt
Beyond the News

As the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq passed, the mainstream media in the U.S. came in for some heavy and well-deserved criticism for its relentless negative coverage of the events in post-war Iraq. The continual predictions of civil war and the near exclusive focus on IEDs and insurgent murders creates the very misleading impression that Iraq is worse off today than it was under Saddam.

Saddam's regime was among the most brutal on the globe, and as author Robert Kaplan--whose book, "Imperial Grunts," should not be missed--has noted, there was zero chance of the Hussein regime ever evolving or being ousted except by force of arms.

While there is violence in Iraq, there is also now hope and nascent freedom. The big media has refused to convey this message because of their deep, deep hatred of George W. Bush, but Americans should be proud of the liberation of that country and grateful to our armed servicemen and women in securing and expanding freedom.

AMEN

But this would have a negative impact on liberalism:

"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom."
-- John Adams

PORT SECURITY

U.S. Hiring Hong Kong Firm to Check Cargo for Nukes
WASHINGTON -- In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

Freeport in the Bahamas is 65 miles from the U.S. coast, where cargo would be likely to be inspected again. The contract is currently being finalized.

Dobbs: China Works With Worst Rogue States
Seeking to meet the demands of its hard-charging economy for energy and natural resources, China is making friends with some of the worst enemies of the United States, some of the most repressive, reprehensible regimes in all the world, according to CNN host Lou Dobbs.

CNN correspondent Kitty Pilgrim told Dobbs Thursday night that in deal after deal, China is doing business with some of the worst rogue regimes in the world, yet it brushes off criticism with platitudes.

China Port Control More Worrisome Than Dubai Deal
The real reason the Dubai ports deal created such an uproar across America was the much larger issue of border security.

If only Congress would show as much concern for our border security as they did about the port deal.

Another matter Congress should concern itself with is China's growing reach over global ports - including ones close to the United States.

Tehran orders terror attack on Israelis before elections.

Fear of large-scale bombing prompts alert, tightened security in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv.

Officials say Iran has instructed the Islamic Jihad and West Bank cells of the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror groups to infiltrate immediately an Israeli city and carry out a mass-casualty attack. More.....

Way Under the Radar

From The Heritage.

Bet you won't see this reported much:

Muslims hold pro-US rally in Jolo

JOLO ISLAND -- More than 1,000 Muslims staged a surprising pro-US rally Saturday in Jolo, where thousands of American and Filipino soldiers are to start a month-long joint military drills and humanitarian mission in the impoverished island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila. ...

The huge crowd gathered in downtown Jolo where many people were spotted waving hundreds of small US and Philippine flags and placards welcoming the Americans.

"We Love You America, Welcome!," one placard reads. "This is why we really want, we need the Americans to help us fight terrorism and so we may live peacefully here," said Abdulgafur Omar, a 29-year old trader.

The military exercise that sparked the rally is part of an increasingly strong relationship between the U.S. and the Phillipines in the war on terrorism.

The Economy: The Good News Keeps Getting Worse

By Larry Elder

In February, our economy created 243,000 new jobs.

Yet one of our major newspapers tells us almost half of Americans consider the economy in a recession. American Research Group's latest monthly survey found 59 percent of Americans rate the economy as bad, very bad, or terrible. Why are Americans so negative? More....

Do Public Schools Need More Money?

By Lynn Woolley
States do poor job of monitoring funding

Among the universal truths of life are “death,” “taxes,” and “public schools need more money.” Of these three, two are true. Let’s discuss the third “truth,” which is anything but true. Read more.

The Hamas Charter (1988)

Overtly anti-Semitic and anti-West, radical Islamic in outlook, it stresses Hamas ideological commitment to destroy the State of Israel through a long-term holy war (jihad). PDF English

From Intelligence & Terrorism Information Center

A SEEMINGLY OBSCURE STORY

As late as this January three would-be terrorists were arrested in Italy after vowing to launch an attack in the U.S. that would dwarf 9/11. Curiously with the exception of the Philadelphia Inquirer this story was conspicuously ignored by the U.S. press corps.

Through conversations that were wiretapped, Italian officials heard Algerian terrorists plan to kill tens of thousands of Americans. This story raises two interesting questions: Did the press ignore the story because the report would support President Bush’s use of domestic surveillance and doesn’t this story portend the very frightening scenario that must be thwarted?

There are those in our midst who prefer legal battles against the administration because they fear a loss of civil liberties, but they do not fear, or appear not to fear, radical Islamists intent on their destruction. READ ON.

Indonesia

Papua: The Dangers of Shutting Down Dialogue

The Papuan People’s Council, the key institution charged with easing tensions between Papuans and Indonesia’s central government, may be about to collapse, with grave consequences given the region’s current volatility. Created in late October 2005 as the centrepiece of the autonomy deal, the Council was almost immediately confronted with two major crises: stalled talks over the legal status of West Irian Jaya and riots over the giant Freeport mine. If the Council can now manoeuvre its way through the two crises, it may yet be able to take on other outstanding grievances and become what Papua has always lacked, a genuinely representative dialogue partner with Jakarta. If it fails, local resentment against the central government will almost certainly increase. The central government should realise it is in its own interest to help the Council succeed. More...

What a world without U.S. power looks like.

At places like Davos and Harvard, the world's sages rarely stop fretting about the dangers of a too powerful America. Well, if you want to know what the world looks like without U.S. leadership, Exhibit A is Darfur in Sudan.

Today's leading authority on Darfur is the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who prophesied a world "nasty, brutish and short." At least 200,000 civilians have been killed in the past three years and two million more have become refugees. The source of the problem is the Arab rulers in Khartoum, who have pursued an ethnic cleansing campaign against black Muslims in western Sudan. They've equipped the Janjaweed Arab tribesmen to do the dirty work, and that militia is now attacking civilians across the border in Chad, creating 20,000 more refugees.

To his credit, Kofi Annan started shouting about the problem two years ago, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell labeled it "genocide" not long after that. The U.N.'s mighty peace-making machinery then started to roll and . . . nothing. The Chinese (who have close commercial ties to Khartoum) and Russians have blocked any serious intervention. Arab members of the Security Council have also opposed any attempt to single out Khartoum.
MORE.

US man charged for exporting sensors to Iran

LOS ANGELES: A computer technician was charged with attempting to export to Iran more than 100 pressure sensors that could be misused as components in explosive devices, US federal authorities said.

Mohammad Fazeli, 27, pleaded not guilty to the three- count indictment charging him with conspiracy, making false statements and violating a US embargo prohibiting trade with Iran.

Prosecutors allege that Fazeli, a US citizen of Iranian descent, ordered 103 Honeywell sensors from an electronics company in Minnesota in September 2004. Working with an associate based in Iran, Fazeli allegedly tried to ship the sensors to an address in Dubai. READ ON.

"If blacks come to embrace triumph, rather than grievance, the wound to liberal Democrats would be mortal. It wouldn't take much of a desertion of the black vote to make Democrat hopes of recapturing Washington a permanent pipe dream."

—Walter Williams

"[L]obbyists are not the main problem. After all, they don't get to vote on the legislation. The main problem is lawmakers passing bills they haven't read, and pretending they don't know about the pork that gets slipped in when they pretend they're not looking."

—Paul Jacob

Iran's nukes concern some Arab countries
IranMania News - Iran
... March 23 (IranMania) - Kuwait City, this tiny Persian Gulf country is increasingly nervous, as are some of its neighbors, about Iran's controversial nuclear ...

Increasing number of illegal immigrants poses safety issues for ...
49abcnews.com - Topeka,KS,USA
Kansas Highway Patrol Lieutenant John Eichorn said 1-70 is becoming a busy passageway for illegal immigrants looking to live the American Dream. ...

'Terror gang tried to buy nuclear bomb'

A BRITISH terror cell member planned to buy a nuclear bomb, while others plotted attacks on a shopping centre, nightclub and the power network, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

Arc of Intolerance
By Patrick Goodenough

In what may be an attempt to find a face-saving way out of an escalating diplomatic row, Afghan officials are now suggesting that a convert to Christianity may not be tried for the capital offense of apostasy on grounds of mental illness...

COMMENTARY

America in the Hands of Angry Democrats
By Christopher G. Adamo

In stark but reliable simplicity, Republican successes of the past several decades can be directly correlated to the contrasts between their philosophy and agenda as compared to that of the Democrats.

In the 1994 election cycle, differences between the two parties were clearly defined, and Republicans triumphed. Conversely, whenever distinctions become blurred, Republican fortunes fall commensurately.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon -- so crucially important to Republican victory -- is apparently beyond the understanding of GOP "moderates," who believe that victory results from an indefinable strategy of fence sitting. READ ON.

IGNORANT HARRY REID SAYS.......

Bush 'Dangerously Incompetent', while ignorant Harry Reid Threatens Filibuster on Immigration.

"As the Senate prepares to tackle the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, a top Democrat vowed Wednesday to do everything in his power, including filibuster, to thwart Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposed overhaul.

Reid said the overhaul must include heightened border enforcement, a "guest worker" program and a "path to citizenship" for the estimated 11 million people in the United States illegally. He called legislation by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., a "good place to start."

Frist unveiled a bill last week that sidesteps the question of temporary work permits. It would tighten borders, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants and provide more visas.

Iraq Archive Document Describes Bin Laden Meeting
U.S. Government Releases Papers From Saddam's Reign

CAIR Finally Responds

CAIR Urges Immediate Release of Afghan Christian

Top UK Court Tells Muslim Schoolgirl Her Human Rights Weren't Violated
London - Dismissing claims that her human rights had been violated, Britain's highest court has ruled against a British teenager who wanted to wear an all-encompassing Muslim dress to school...

No Connection? No Agenda? Unbiased? Ahhh...No

Scientist Alleging Bush Censorship Helped Gore, Kerry
- The scientist touted by CBS News' "60 Minutes" as arguably the "world's leading researcher on global warming" and spotlighted as a victim of Bush administration censorship on the issue publicly endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president and received a $250,000 grant from the charitable foundation headed by Kerry's wife...Read on.

China in accord with Russia on Iran
China Daily - China
China said on Thursday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin left Beijing, that Beijing and Moscow are in accord on Iran's nuclear standoff with the ...

Iran talks on Iraq may prove dialogue of deaf
(Reuters)

In a worst-case scenario, talks could descend into a ”dialogue of the deaf”, offering hardliners on both sides the chance to declare contacts a failure and exacerbating an already tense standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme, the analysts add.

Washington accuses Teheran of fomenting unrest in Iraq, which Iran blames on the US-led forces that invaded. But despite the exchange of accusations, analysts say both are worried about worsening violence in Iraq, pushing them to agree to talks.

“There is a degree of urgency among both parties not to see Iraq slide into civil war,” said Anoush Ehteshami, a leading Iran scholar at Britain’s Durham University.

“They (Iranians) want a subdued and stable Iraq rather than a burning, anarchistic Iraq,” he said, adding: “Obviously they don’t want Iraq to be under American tutelage.”

While both sides say they will sit together, comments so far suggest they are keener to lecture than to listen. Read more.

China, Brazil pledge to strengthen relations
Xinhua - China
BEIJING (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong said here on Thursday that China would work closely with Brazil to promote bilateral ...

China expands ties with oil-rich Angola
CNN - USA
... China's ambassador to Angola announced the intention to create the chamber last week. Sinosteel Corporation, China National Overseas Engineering Corp. ...

Japan to Freeze Loans to China
MSN Money - USA
TOKYO (AP) - Japan said Thursday it was freezing its loans to China through the end of this month because of worsening relations between the two nations who ...

NUCLEAR POWER: FINI-LIVNI, IRAN A GLOBAL THREAT

(AGI) - Rome, 22 March - The Iranian Ayatollah regime is a threat not only to Israel, but to the whole world, agreed the Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni, who met in Rome today. Mrs Livni, in particular, said that Iran is looking to "gain time" and that Iranian nuclear power "is a threat not only for Israel, but for the whole world" and that it is therefore necessary to "bring an end to this case before Tehran can acquire the knowledge to build nuclear arms". The Iranian president, Ahmad Amadinejad, "speaks of anti-semitism, denies the Holocaust, says that he can never recognise the State of Israel and that he has some ideas on how to bring an end to its existence". This is why, Fini echoed, Italy and Israel are "agreed" in maintaining that "maximum unity and firmness are the only way possible to reach a situation which does not offer reasons for concern which today the international community suffers". (AGI ONLINE)

Russia Won't Back US Draft on Iran
The Moscow Times - Russia
UNITED NATIONS -- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not back the latest US draft of a statement on Iran by the Security Council chair because it ...

What if We Lose?

The consequences of U.S. defeat in Iraq.

The third anniversary of U.S. military action to liberate Iraq has brought with it a relentless stream of media and political pessimism that is unwarranted by the facts and threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophesy if it goes unchallenged.

From Opinion Journal.

Is Your Personal Tax Information for Sale?

In a move that threatens the privacy of federal income-tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service is proposing that accountants and other tax-return preparers can sell information from returns to marketers and data brokers. Read on.

This is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! We cannot allow this to happen.

"Enough generations of socialist policies have now passed for us to judge their effects. They are bleak. Socialism undermines the character of a nation and of its citizens. In simpler words, socialism makes people worse." —Dennis Prager

"After order and liberty, economy is one of the highest essentials of a free government." —Calvin Coolidge

"[W]e don't have deficits because people are taxed too little. We have deficits because big government spends too much." —Ronald Reagan

TV News Bearish on the Economy

Best job market since 2001 goes unnoticed as major media still not convinced that 4 ½-year economic expansion is for real.

By Noel Sheppard
Free Market Project

The U.S. job market for college grads is the best it’s been since 2001. Yet, polls are saying Americans feel skittish about the economy, and it’s probably because TV news is misleading them. Whether they’re ignoring good news or playing up the negative, journalists have portrayed a grim reality.

Time again for The United Nations to Take Action on Burma
Mizzima.com - New Delhi,Delhi,India
... with any civil, local or legitimately elected civilian government, there is no other choice but for organizations like ASEAN and the United Nations to get ...

Nations Seek to Break Deadlock Over Iran
ABC News - USA
John Bolton, United States Ambassador to United Nations, leaves a meeting of the Security Council of United Nations at UN headquarters in New York, Tuesday ...

Pressure Builds Over Plight of Afghan Christian
– The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, accustomed to warm receptions in Western capitals, is coming under growing outside pressure over the trial of a Christian facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam...

Islamic Advocacy Group Silent on Afghan Apostasy Trial
- What does the Council on American-Islamic Relations have to say about the trial of an Afghan Muslim who may get the death penalty for converting to Christianity? Nothing so far, noted a conservative, pro-family group...

Trial of Afghan Convert Emphasizes Need for Judicial Reform
– The trial of an Afghan accused of apostasy for converting to Christianity is raising questions, not just about Afghanistan’s Islam-based constitution, but also about difficulties in reforming the country’s judicial system, which is dominated by Islamic hardliners...

In the Face of Elite Criticism
By Hugh Hewitt
Beyond the News

In recent weeks, the Beltway opinion elite are once again out with a theme that sees an imminent collapse of the Bush presidency. Though it's been a repeating feature of anti-Bush talking heads for many years now, this latest round has been inspired by criticism of the Iraq War from voices on the right--most notably William F. Buckley and George Will.

Though there is certainly criticism of the president's war policy within the GOP, reports of the demise of Bush's popularity with his base are greatly exaggerated. Bush's indifference to popularity polling is as legendary as his predecessor's obsessiveness over it. The president also knows that the judgment on Iraq is decades down the road, and that the only certain disaster would lie in retreat.

Serious people with a clear view of the stakes and the threats remain solid supporters of the very difficult but very necessary war against Islamist extremists--and they recognize that the struggle for Iraq is one that we must win.

More Failed Social Health Care: Dentistry

Hundreds of dentists set to leave NHS due to Executive funding gaps

THOUSANDS more Scots are set to lose access to NHS dental services because dentists say they cannot afford to keep treating them.

NEWS

President rejects 'automatic citizenship'
President Bush yesterday said illegal aliens, even longtime residents with families, should not get "automatic citizenship" as part of any new guest-worker program.

Republicans slam Democrat plan to hit Bush from bases
Republicans accused Capitol Hill Democrats yesterday of plotting to use military bases as props for political press events to criticize President Bush for his handling of the war in Iraq.

Bloggers from both sides oppose FEC regulations
Conservative and liberal bloggers both worry their freedom of speech is threatened by proposed campaign-finance rules that seek to regulate online political speech.

EDITORIAL

Iraq is no "distraction" from al Qaeda.
BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Polls and Leadership

"Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus."
--- Margaret Thatcher
"I am not a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician."
--- Margaret Thatcher

The left is infatuated with polls. It is just another tool in their arsenal that they can use in their quest to shape public opinion. Polls should be viewed with a skeptic's eye - they are too easily manipulated, can be done unscientifically, can draw an unrepresentative sample, and at worst, can be down right fabricated. It's too easy to "come up with a poll" to support your position, or throw your poll out and start over if you did not like its results.

Then all you need to do is find a willing media (the left has no problem here) and constantly feature all kinds of "polls" - day in and day out. It's a little different twist from the conventional use of propaganda, but propaganda nonetheless. We know that perception becomes reality.

Today in Pres. Bush's press conference, the topic of polls came up. It was pointed out that he has admitted in the past he pays no attention to polls, BUT wasn't he concerned about his poor showing in 3 recent polls, and does he listen to people (read polls).

Recently, Senator Feingold was being asked about his censure idea of Bush that he floated out that left Dems scrambling, and Feingold seemed to be a little testy over the subject, and made some comment to the effect that "the people" were not up in arms over his suggestion, and then went as far as to say there were no polls to prove otherwise.

Don't you see? It's all about the polls. Well folks, polls make poor presidents. Presidents are leaders.

Leaders lead. Polls cannot. True leaders don't read tea leaves, they don't stick their finger into the air to see which way the wind is blowing, and they don't let polls decide their agenda and their policy.

Leading by polls, even if accurate, is gutless and only provides cover for the spineless leader. If it turns out to be a bad decision, the wimpy leader can run for cover saying he only did what the people wanted and escapes all accountability.

"There are still people in my party who believe in consensus politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors... I mean it. "
--- Margaret Thatcher
"To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects."
--- Margaret Thatcher

Whether you are a Bush backer or a Bush basher, surely you can see the folly of running a country in this manner. There would be no need for presidential elections and hence no need to have a president.

Our country is not run by polls, but by elected pols.

The Western Front
BY BRENDAN MINITER
The nation won't follow unless the president leads.

Socialism: More proof it makes people worse

Dennis Prager hits 'lazy' French youth who want protection from being fired.

Prospects of Terror: An Inquiry into Jihadi Alternatives

What happened on 9/11 was not an earthquake, over and done quickly, but a long, slow and complete reshuffling of the tectonic plates that comprise human civilization; something comparable to the deaths of empires and the passing of eras. Such events are not over in a day, or a year, or a decade. They take their time. And when it ends at last the world will be a different place, in ways that we now have no way of knowing. But the part we have played in it will, in some shape or form, match our position when it’s all over, American or European or Arab, Muslim or Christian or Secular.

We are still amid early days, roughly the days of Midway and Guadalcanal and El Alamein in a previous great struggle. “Not the beginning of the end,” as Churchill put it, “but the end of the beginning.”

The Jihadis have lost Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s true that fighting continues in both countries, but at this point it’s effectively theater. It can’t be repeated often enough that the type of war we are involved in is as much political as it is military. By any political measure, the Jihadis have been routed. Their only chance of prevailing was to appeal to the Iraqis and Afghans as a viable alternative to elected democratic governments. No such attempt was ever made. Instead, the Jihadis have relentlessly made the Iraqis and Afghans suffer. Their final chance in Iraq lay in derailing the political process last year. They failed at this, and now it is over. Not the violence – there will be car bombs going off in Iraq for years to come, unfortunately. But any opportunity of a Jihadi victory is gone. Read on.

NEWS HEADLINES

Nagin Says Evacuation Plans, Flood Walls Better This Time
Weather Experts Predict Busy Hurricane Season
Suspected killer 'B-Stupid' arrested
States allow deadly self-defense
Poll: Hillary Clobbered in NJ
Actress Susan Sarandon unhappy with centrist Hillary
Jordan's Islamists see a path to political power
Trade talks between U.S., UAE to resume
Allen's 'paycheck penalty' not popular among peers
Lawmakers at odds on immigration

WHY WE MUST STOP IRAN

The cost of allowing Tehran to go nuclear is far greater than the price of prevention, writes Colin Rubenstein.

UNITED States senator and former presidential candidate John McCain said recently: "There is only one thing worse than the US exercising a military option (against Iran), and that is a nuclear-armed Iran."

McCain is quite correct. A military attack on Iranian nuclear installations could have some very bad consequences — in terms of international terror, oil prices and hopes to reform the corrupt and undemocratic regimes of the Middle East. But allowing Iran to defy the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it signed, and build nuclear weapons would be catastrophic.

Read on.

IRAN NEWS

Bush calls for unity on Iran as allies argue
Financial Times - London,England,UK
George W. Bush, the US president, on Tuesday sought to shore up the international front against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme as differences ...

Bush: talks with Iran to show US concerns on Iraq
Reuters AlertNet - London,England,UK
WASHINGTON - The United States wants to make clear in talks with Iran that it won't accept attempts to spread sectarian violence in Iraq ...

Pakistan opposes use of force against Iran
Khaleej Times - Dubai,United Arab Emirates
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan reiterated its opposition to any use of force against Iran, just hours before the UN Security Council was due to discuss how to end the ...

US turns attention to al-Qaeda in Iran
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
AMERICAN intelligence officials, already focused on Iran's potential for building nuclear weapons, are struggling to solve a more immediate mystery: the ...

Russia blocks UN push on Iran nukes
Australian - Australia
NEW YORK: Russia, backed by China, has blocked Western moves for a UN Security Council statement aimed at quashing Iran's nuclear ambitions. ...

EU warns Iran it may face diplomatic reprisals over nukes
Iran Focus - Iran
The European Union has warned Iran that it may face diplomatic reprisals if it continues to defy the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency ...

A Less Divided Tribune

By Terry Eastland
Beyond the News

John Roberts has been chief justice for just five months now, but already he's shown why President Bush appointed him. The Supreme Court has decided 39 cases, and Roberts has written three majority opinions. Each is well-written; each fairly treats the key issues and reaches a clear and persuasive conclusion.

The three were unanimously decided. But they're hardly the only ones. In fact, the last nine cases have been unanimous. That won't continue but it does suggest that the Roberts court may prove a less divided tribune.

Roberts is behind that. He came from a court whose members tried to reach a broadly acceptable resolution--and which was often unanimous. And his new colleagues say he encourages actual discussion when the justices meet in conference--something seldom done under his predecessor. Roberts draws a sharp distinction between law and politics and he tries to honor it at the conference table. The youngest justice, he is having a powerful and welcome impact.

Key Nations Still Divided on Iran
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
UNITED NATIONS - Britain has suggested imposing UN sanctions on Iran unless it allays suspicions about its nuclear program, but Russia and China remained at ...

Ethiopia gripped by fear of regime
A climate bordering on fear has taken hold of the Ethiopian capital as journalists, lawyers and politicians carefully measure their public remarks and contacts in the face of widespread arrests and prosecutions.

U.S. eyes privatizing cargo security work
Homeland Security officials are looking to have private companies validate the security procedures under which cargo travels from foreign ports into U.S. terminals.

"The Judiciary...has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society, and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will."

-- Alexander Hamilton

"He occasionally stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened."

US Navy Takes on Pirates

Indian Ocean (March 18, 2006) - What happens when armed suspected pirates in a suspicious vessel like this



opens fire on a U.S. Navy ship in international waters off the coast of Somalia?

Well this is what happens.



One suspect killed, 12 whisked away.

U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist Daniel Sanford

American Reservist Recruiting Recovers

In the last five months, the U.S. Army National Guard has recruited seven percent more troops than it needed, reversing a 3 year trend in which they experienced some difficulties in recruiting that had put them five percent under strength.

Troops Are Respected

American Poll Shows Troops Respected Far More Than Critics

March 20, 2006: A recent Harris Poll, asking Americans which "institution" they admired the most, the military came out on top, with 47 percent saying they had a great deal of confidence in the military (38 percent had "some," while 14 percent had "hardly any.") In second place was Small Business (a new category, introduced last year) with 45 percent, then universities (38 percent), Supreme Court (33 percent), medical community (31 percent), and so on to the bottom, where we find the media (14 percent), large companies (13 percent), organized labor (12 percent) and, in a tie at the bottom, the legal profession and Congress, each with ten percent.

What the troops will find particularly gratifying is that Americans think the least about the people who criticize the military the most.

From Strategy Page

China's Drive to Middle East

Economics, history propel Beijing to region
G2 Bulletin

"When World War III begins, it will inevitably be ignited by developments in two specific regions – the Middle East and Asia.

The Middle East is already the focal point of a titanic conflict between the West and Islamism. And the rise of China as a major world power causes Beijing to scramble for natural resources, including oil, found principally in the Middle East.

China has already become the second-largest oil consumer in the world, after the U.S. It has developed a sophisticated military capability and it is rushing in to fill voids left by the U.S. in the wake of the West’s conflict with Islamism.

China has a long history of involvement in the Middle East. Throughout the Cold War, China stepped in to court Arab and Muslim nations when tensions with the West were running high.

But whereas once China’s involvement in the region was based more on politics and a natural antithesis with the West, today its interest in the Middle East is based on pure economics. It needs oil for continued growth. China became a net oil importer 13 years ago. And its search for more reserves has never ceased. The Middle East now provides China with half its oil imports.

Recently, China has hosted leaders from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – securing energy exploration agreements and contracts to develop its own refining capacities.

For more than a decade, Saudi Arabia’s exports to the U.S. have been declining, while its exports to China have been increasing. China’s relations with Pakistan, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, remain strong. And China has moved ever closer to Iran, even supporting its quest for nuclear power and nuclear arms.

China’s history with Iran dates back much further than the Cold War. There were major trade routes between China and Iran for centuries. But more recently, China signed a $100 billion deal with Iran to import 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas over a 25-year period in exchange for a Chinese stake of 50 percent in the development of the Yahavaran oil field in Iran. China is also exploring the feasibility of a direct pipeline to Iran via Kazakhstan.

There is no doubt that Iran’s nuclear program is a potential source of an imminent showdown with the West. Therefore, China’s support for Iran becomes critical – the kind of support that can turn a regional conflict into a global one."

MONEY AND POWER

"Money is power, more money for the government is more power for the government. More power for the government will allow it to, among many other things, amuse itself by putting its fingers in a million pies, and stop performing its essential functions well, and get dizzily distracted by nonessentials, and muck up everything. Which is more or less where we are." —Peggy Noonan

ORTHODOXY

"At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to state this or that or the other, but it is 'not done'... Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness."
--- —George Orwell

A present day example of this is global warming. It is hyped so much by the left (with an ever so obliging media) and accusing man (George Bush in particular) for its' presence, complete with forecasts of a multitude of doomsday scenarios, that if you are a non-believer in man-made global warming, you are painted as some kind of freakazoid.

This post from earlier today "Global Warming Research Fears: Galileo Would Have Recognized the ..." tells us that University of Ottawa Science Professor Jan Veizer's is challenging today's conventional wisdom of "man-made" global warming. He says "what we know about global warming is wrong -- that stars, not greenhouse gases, are changing Earth's climate."

However:

The recently retired professor (he still holds a research chair and supervises grad students and postdoctoral fellows) knows that to challenge the accepted climate change theory can lead to a nasty fight.

It's a politically and economically loaded topic, and as polarized as an election campaign.

Yet he is speaking out -- a bit nervously -- about his published research.

The left is particularly adept at silencing its' critics.

US polls divided on illegal immigrants
United Press International - USA
... Various polls show the majority of US citizens want better security along the Mexican border, but there is little agreement over illegal immigrants working. ...

Civil War in ... France!
By Rich Galen

Oh, Mon Dieu! France is on the brink of civil war! But the cable nets are missing it. Imagine how breathless the coverage would be if somewhere between a half million and 1.5 million Iraqis were running around trashing (as they did in Paris) a McDonalds restaurant and setting fire to (as they did in Paris) a Gap store. How can this be? Could it be that the Western press doesn't want to inflame the situation by covering it too closely? Read on.

The Attack on the US Dollar
By Alan Caruba

It’s bad enough that the Middle East has us over a barrel of oil thanks to our continued dependency on access to its huge reservoirs of crude; but largely unknown to most Americans, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Islamic Development Bank have a long-term goal of replacing the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency for world trade. A flight of foreign-exchange reserves away from the dollar would depress its value and potentially increase the value of the Euro by 20 to 40 percent. This is extremely bad news for the United States and for the West in general. Read on.

IF HE SAID IT, IT MUST BE TRUE

UN Becoming ‘Responsible and Accountable,’ Official Claims

Color me skeptical,
Color me blue,
I'm not hopeful,
How 'bout you?

CHINA NEWS

South Koreans believe China likely to be biggest security threat ...
OhmyNews International - South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ More than a third of South Koreans believe China will be their country's biggest security threat in 10 years, according to survey ...

Security talks put China-US tension back in focus
Washington Post - United States
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's military build-up has come under renewed US criticism, raising tensions before Chinese President Hu Jintao's inaugural trip to ...

Global Warming Research Fears: Galileo Would Have Recognized the ...
The National Center for Public Policy Research - Washington,DC,USA
Kudos to the Canadians, as the Ottawa Citizen has published an article about University of Ottawa Science Professor Jan Veizer's new global warming theory. ...

Letter fights `amnesty' for illegal immigrants

Myrick, McHenry among conservatives who signed warning.

By Tim Funk
Charlotte Observer

More than 70 conservative House members -- including GOP Reps. Patrick McHenry and Sue Myrick of North Carolina -- sent a warning to the Senate last week on the hot-button issue of immigration.

Their message: We don't like what we're hearing about Senate proposals to launch a guest-worker program and legalize undocumented foreign workers already here.

Ideas like that are "fundamentally incompatible" with get-tough legislation already passed by the House and could "doom any chance of a real reform bill reaching the president's desk this year," the House members wrote in a letter to Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Specter chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering the more comprehensive of two Senate immigration bills getting a closer look as the upper chamber gears up for an explosive debate on the issue later this month.

The other Senate bill is an echo of the enforcement-only House version favored by grass-roots conservatives. It was just introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a presidential candidate who needs to woo -- not alienate -- conservatives if he hopes to win his party's nomination.

The House letter to Specter touts the House provisions -- including one to build a fence along the Mexican border -- as steps "to restore the anarchical borders and to reform our dysfunctional immigration system."

The bill before the Senate panel also would beef up border security. But other, more controversial provisions would offer some illegal immigrants a path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship if they pay a $2,000 fine, apply for six-year temporary status, keep a job, pay taxes and show proficiency in English.

Its supporters, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., say it would bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and legalize the workers U.S. businesses say they need.

The House letter writers dismissed that thinking, saying the proposals "amount to little more than thinly disguised attempts to provide amnesty."

Besides McHenry of Cherryville and Myrick of Charlotte, the letter was signed by GOP Reps. Charles Taylor of Brevard, Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk, Walter Jones of Farmville, and Gresham Barrett of Westminster, S.C.

A Necessary First Step

By Michael Medved
Beyond the News

With all the disagreements over immigration policy, people of good will should unite behind the one step that could quickly improve the situation: the construction of a high-tech fence on our southern border. No, it couldn't stop the flow of illegal immigrants overnight but it could dramatically reduce it--as Israel has demonstrated with its effective security barrier.

Yes, we also need a realistic guest worker program, but border security must come first, and construction of a fence would strongly encourage future immigrants to comply with whatever new rules the government enacts.

Critics worry that a fence would send the wrong, unwelcoming message to the rest of the world, but it's the right message to show that the U.S. is getting serious about border security. We're not shutting the front door on future immigrants, but we are saying that you're no longer welcome to break into our home by sneaking around the back.

SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE IS NOT THE ANSWER

Nationalized Health Care Kills People

Judge refuses request to end baby boy's treatment

And even tries to kill children. Case in point: a group of doctors in London want to pull the plug on an 18-month old infant. Yes, the baby is disabled, but not in a vegetative state. The unstated problem here is the fact that with the socialized medicine structure such as the one in Great Britain, doctors get paid by the government, and certainly not enough to actually pay for the continuing treatment someone severely disabled requires. So, unplug and save some money, it's that simple. Fortunately, in this instance, a judge disagreed.
From Tammy Bruce.

That is precisely why I am against socialized health care. Eventually, it becomes too economically burdensome for the government and hence, the over riding factor as to whether you get to live or not becomes economic. I don't want the government deciding if I should live or not. Which brings up a good question. For those who were against keeping Terry Schiavo alive used this exact argument. It was no business of the government. And they were wrong to try and intervene on this private matter. I have a feeling that many of those same people would believe that this disabled infant should be put to rest, but that sure the hell blows their argument out of the water that the family should decide.

Huge Amount of Explosives Near Egyptian Border

From LGF.

The smugglers have been busy since Israel turned over control of the Egyptian border to the Palestinian Authority: Egypt uncovers explosives near border.

One in 10 Indonesians Back Suicide Bombings

From LGF

In Indonesia, the showcase “moderate” Islamic state, eleven percent of Muslims say suicide bombings are justifiable, and almost half support stoning adulterers to death: One in 10 Indonesians back suicide bombings-survey.

Ginsburg Faults GOP Critics, Cites a Threat From 'Fringe'

Recently, Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a speech, overseas nonetheless, (it's quite amazing that it has become commonplace for the left to speak out harshly against their critics and/or country whenever their feet leave the soil of America) in which she said that Republicans who criticize the Supreme Court are inciting the nut-jobs on the fringe, who then threaten the lives of the justices.

Now I am not in favor of threats, even idle ones, or ones done in so-called "good old fashioned fun". There is nothing humorous about talk of strangling someone, or "poisoning" someone as Anne Coulter did. That being said, does "Ginsey" not understand that this happens all the time by the wackos on the right and the left. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and "Condi" have all been victims of this morose humor and far more frequent then what she has had to endure.

Furthermore, does her objection to criticism not imply that Justices are to be above criticism? What other recourse do the citizens of this country, or our elected officials for that matter, have when we have become exasperated with these unelected, robed arbiters when they decide they are the ones who will set policy, legislate, and determine social mores.

And isn't it amazing that one of her objections is that some Republican legislators had been criticizing her for the use of foreign laws in court rulings. My, how inconsiderate and unappreciative can these legislators be? How un-American can you be to dislike the idea of justices selectively choosing foreign laws as support for their reasoning?

Naturally, the justices don't always cite foreign laws, only those they agree with that advances their own prejudices. Case in point is the abortion issue. The United States has a much more liberal position on abortion than most countries, but we don't defer to them on abortion laws as Justice Scalia has pointed out. Try as they might, we cannot have justices that just select the parts of the Constitution that support their personal views, but then dismiss the other inconvenient parts.

As Betsy Newmark points out,

The beauty of our system is that there is a set Constitution and body of laws that serve as the basis for our jurisprudence. But, if the universe of possible precedents is now expanded to include whatever random foreign law that appeals to a justice, we will have given up something really fundamental about our judicial system. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg wishes that people would please stop criticizing her for doing just that. Sorry, Justice Ginsburg, you're no more immune from criticism than Chief Justice Taney was when Abraham Lincoln was assailing the Dred Scott decision in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. In this country, we can criticize anyone in the three branches of government. If you don't like it, there is always retirement.

GOOD HUMOR

I've seen this before somewhere, but I think it is good enough humor to post. Hat tip to Babalu Blog.

A New Element

A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium." Governmntium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass." When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium – an element which radiates just as much energy as the Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Afghan Christian Could Get Death Sentence

By DANIEL COONEY
The Associated Press
Washington Post

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country's Islamic laws, a judge said Sunday.

The trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take here four years after the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime." Reg. required.

This is quite illustrative of the problems and difficulties of trying to democratize and promote freedom in countries where Islam is the rule. Islam principles and Sharia law are incompatible with democracy, freedom, and tolerance - particularly religious freedom.