EATING THE FBI’S LUNCH

Jack Kelly writes:

The FBI's bumbling in the war on terror, and the tendency of the FBI to promote the bumblers, has made it one of our weakest links in the chain of agencies tasked with protecting America's security.

Foreign spies have been eating the FBI's lunch for years. Katrina Leung, for example, was permitted to pass along critical national secrets for years after she'd confessed to being a spy for Red China because the two FBI agents who were supposed to be monitoring her were sleeping with her.

Neither of those agents was punished.

The ghastly reality is that, for many senior people in the FBI, their careers come first, the reputation of the FBI second. The security of the United States is a distant third."

BAD KARMA FOR CASTRO

Dr. Jack Wheeler writes:

Death came quick to two of the world's most evil men recently - Sapamurat "Turkmenbashi" Niyazov, dictator of Turmenistan, dead of a heart attack on December 21, and Saddam Hussein. It's coming slowly to a third - Fidel Castro.

Castro's medical care has been overseen by a team of physicians from Spain, some of whom are providing details of his condition to the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), Spain's CIA. The picture is truly horrific.

After four disastrous surgeries, he can now only be fed intravenously. He is constantly doped-up on pain-killers like morphine. The prolonged agony and suffering he has endured for seven months may even have exceeded that of the thousands of political prisoners he ordered tortured during the decades of his tyranny.

Castro is dying ugly. If there is anyone who deserves such bad karma, it is him."

His opinion is there's almost "no way he can live for much longer - a few weeks or months at the most. " Once Fidel passes away, his brother Raul will try frantically to hold the dictatorship together, and predicts Raul "will fail - fast."

“[T]he artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted...”

—Thomas Jefferson

Joe Lieberman: "It is critical that we take advantage of this opportunity to win."

BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

Accountability at the United Nations

Mexia Daily News
By Kay Bailey Hutchison-Capitol Comment

"Over 60 years ago, the United Nations was chartered to advance human rights, promote justice, rule of law, and freedom, and save future generations from suffering the scourge of war. It requires all member nations to share the costs. The U.N. has grown from its original 51 members to 192 today, and it remains a central forum for international cooperation and communication. The U.N. can also play a valuable role in peacekeeping missions.

But in recent years the U.N. has become inefficient and disorganized and has been widely lampooned as an emblem of incompetence. Its missions have......." Continue.

CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE.

United Nations Committee Criticizes Poland for Prohibiting Abortions:
"A United Nations committee has unduly criticized the nation of Poland for prohibiting most abortions. During a meeting this week at its headquarters, the committee that oversees the CEDAW treated said the European nation has not done enough to comply with it."

ISLAMOCOMMUNISM

Dr. Jack Wheeler
Behind The Lines

This past week, the chief proponent of Jihadi Islam and the use of terror to force people to believe in his religion, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, traveled to Latin America to create an alliance with three atheistic Communists: Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, and Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

This emerging "Marxist-Islamist entente," as it has been described, has caught a lot of folks by surprise. How in the world, they ask, could Chavez toast Ahmadinutjob by hailing him as the leader of "a revolution kindred to the Venezuelan revolution: the Islamic revolution."

What could the imposition of atheistic Marxism upon a society, Chavez's goal, have in common with the imposition of a theocracy? The answer must be, can only be for these puzzled folks, the bond of anti-Americanism.

As an editorial in the conservative New York Sun expresses it:

That the left makes common cause with the Islamists is one of the bizarre facts of modern geopolitics. The only thing Marxists like Messrs. Chavez, Ortega, and Correa have in common today with the likes of Mr. Ahmadinejad is a hatred of America. That is the foundation on which the Marxist-Islamist scheme is formed and the motivation behind any actions it carries out.

The New York Sun is almost infinitely superior to the New York Times in its understanding of the world. It is well aware of the dangers of the alliance of Marxists and Islamists to America's national security.

Yet the common bond between the two is far, far deeper than a simple emotion of hate. The bond is as deep as you get. It is metaphysical. That is because Marx and Mohammed share the same view on the nature of reality.
Read more...

Populists equalize poverty

Rocky Mountain News
By Mike Rosen

"With the Democrats back in power in Congress and with the 2008 election campaign already upon us, you'll be hearing much more about 'income inequality.' This is a major issue for 'progressives' (when you hear that word, think 'socialists') like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Populism is back in fashion.

By populism, I mean the exploitation of the uninformed, angry impulses and unfiltered passions of the masses. That anger and resentment has historically been directed at the usual villains and cardboard stereotypes: bankers, insurance companies, 'big pharma' (that means drug companies), agri-business, 'the military-industrial complex,' free trade, free markets and, of course, 'the rich.' This mentality feeds on conspiracy theories and simplistic fantasies about the way the world works. It seeks to impale the minority of 'haves' on the pitchforks of the more numerous 'have nots.' When you do the political calculus, it can seem like a seductive winning formula for many politicians." Read on.

United Nations Dictator's Program

RealClearPolitics
By Melanie Kirkpatrick

"Saddam Hussein managed to pull off the $100 billion Oil for Food scam right under the noses of the United Nations officials charged with administering it. Now another dictator with nuclear ambitions has succeeded in a similar trick, this time manipulating the United Nations Development Program in North Korea.

The story of the UNDP's lack of oversight of its operations in North Korea is revealed in previously undisclosed documents and an exchange of letters between U.S. and U.N. officials. American officials have been pushing for months for more transparency in UNDP operations in North Korea, while the UNDP has resisted."

Blinding Us With Science

By Jonah Goldberg

"For a generation, American politics has largely been frozen in place when it comes to so-called 'reproductive issues.' Abortion has been the keystone holding up a number of related positions, from euthanasia to embryonic stem cell research, with self-described pro-lifers and pro-choicers locked in a permanent cold war.

But the light of science is melting the permafrost beneath them, making abortion seem like a 20th-century argument about feminism whereas the argument in the 21st century will be about humanity itself - and whether science is the source of human values." Read on...

The Un-Fairness Doctrine: Unevening the Playing Field, by Law

By David Limbaugh

"Beware of liberals using such words as 'fairness.' In resurrecting the 'Fairness Doctrine,' liberals are trying to kill conservative talk radio and restore their media monopoly. Period. The doctrine would selectively stifle free political discourse, which is essential for our representative government.

The Fairness Doctrine, an FCC regulation in force from 1949 to 1987, required broadcasters to present 'both sides' of controversial issues. During that time, liberals had a virtual monopoly on the media." Read on....

N. Korea Says Hill Talks Produced `Certain Agreement'

Bloomberg.com

"North Korea said talks between its Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan and chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill this week to prepare for new six- nation talks reached ``a certain agreement.''

The two days of discussions in Berlin took place in a ``positive and sincere atmosphere and a certain agreement was reached there,'' the official Korean Central News Agency reported, citing a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying today. Hill and Kim tried to ``settle knotty problems in resolving the nuclear issue,'' KCNA said without giving any details.

Hill said today he wasn't sure what the spokesman was referring to when he spoke of an agreement. The positive tone of the KCNA report reflects that the meeting was useful, he said on arrival in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Hill travels to Japan Jan. 20 and China the following day." Read on...

Hugo Chavez Becoming a Dictator

CARACAS, Venezuela -- "Venezuela's National Assembly gave initial approval Thursday to a measure that would let President Hugo Chavez enact laws by decree for 1 1/2 years, a key step in what the leftist calls an accelerating march toward socialism.

The law is expected to easily win final approval next week by a legislature filled with Chavez allies. Among the laws planned by Chavez are moves to nationalize Venezuela's main telecommunications company and the electricity and natural gas sectors.

'This process is unstoppable,' lawmaker Juan Montenegro Nunez told the National Assembly. 'This process is a historic necessity.'

Emboldened by landslide re-election last month, Chavez said Wednesday night that he was seeking special powers to approve 'revolutionary laws' that would mean political, economic, social, national security and defense reforms." Read on....

Gates: Iranians 'Overplaying Their Hand'

Muslims Upset Over '24' Portrayal

Hugo and Mahmoud

What do Ahmadinejad and Chris Dodd have in common?
OpinionJournal

"We've known for some time that Hugo Chávez is a menace to the economic well-being of his own people. But the question that seems increasingly urgent is whether he's becoming a threat to U.S. security interests--both in the Western Hemisphere and beyond.

Specifically, we'd like to know what Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Bill Delahunt make of Mr. Chávez's weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian President stopped by Caracas on Saturday as part of a four-day engagement with Latin America's new leftist governments. On Sunday, the Iranian communed with Nicaragua's new boss, Daniel Ortega, and then on Monday he hit the inauguration of Ecuador's new pro-Chávez President Rafael Correa.

The Caracas visit was Mr. Ahmadinejad's second in four months. 'This is just a prelude of what we will do,' declared Mr. Chávez, in a televised speech announcing the creation of a joint $2 billion fund to finance development and other projects. 'This large and strategic fund, brother, is going to be converted into a mechanism of liberation,' he added, saying their goal is to build 'a network of alliances.' " Read on.

“Our elites have become so insulated from reality that they imagine America can suffer defeat without inconvenience to themselves. Defeat would be an embarrassment to President Bush, but nothing more.”

—Jack Kelly

What I Saw in Iraq

By Michelle Malkin

"Last week, I embedded with U.S. Army troops at Forward Operating Base Justice in northern Baghdad. Outside the wire, we toured the slums and met with neighborhood leaders inching toward self-sufficiency in al Salam. We sipped chai with a sheikh who condemned terrorists on all sides. We watched residents bicker over a civil affairs blanket drop in Khadamiyah. We sat with slimy Mahdi Army apologists in Hurriya. We stopped by a Sunni insurgent enclave, which soldiers I patrolled with dubbed a 'sniperville,' in al Adil.

There's nothing glamorous or romantic about these missions. No one will make a movie about our men and women in uniform engaged in the tedious, painstaking business of moving Iraq toward stability and governability. But if the war is to be won -- if security is to be established and the foundations of a civil society bolstered -- this is ground zero. The troops I met ask only three things of their fellow Americans back home: time, patience and understanding of the enormous complexities on the ground." Continue.

"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself."

-- Milton Friedman, economist

Trade Deficits: Good or Bad?

By Walter E. Williams

"Since 2001, our economy has created 9.3 million new jobs, compared with 360,000 in Japan and 1.1 million in the euro zone (European Union countries that have adopted the euro), excluding Spain. Japan and euro zone countries had trade surpluses, while we had large and increasing trade deficits. Mr. Malpass says that both Spain and the U.K., like the U.S., ran trade deficits, but they created 3.6 and 1.3 million new jobs, respectively. Moreover, wages rose in the U.S., Spain and the U.K.

Professor Don Boudreaux, chairman of George Mason University's Economics Department, wrote "If Trade Surpluses Are So Great, the 1930s Should Have Been a Booming Decade" (www.cafehayek.com). According to data he found at the National Bureau of Economic Research's "Macrohistory Database", it turns out that the U.S. ran a trade surplus in nine of the 10 years of the Great Depression, with 1936 being the lone exception.

During those 10 years, we had a significant trade surplus, with exports totaling $26.05 billion and imports totaling only $21.13 billion. So what do trade surpluses during a depression and trade deficits during an economic boom prove, considering we've had trade deficits for most of our history? Professor Boudreaux says they prove absolutely nothing. Economies are far too complex to draw simplistic causal connections between trade deficits and surpluses and economic welfare and growth."

Read more of Walter Williams here.

Somalia Bombings Show Why We Must Destroy Al-Qaeda in Iraq

By Anne Yasmine Rassam

"The recent Special Forces strike in Somalia illustrates once and again the foolhardiness of those who want us out of Iraq. While Ted Kennedy spouts his usual rhetoric in the National Press Club, drawing fatuous comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq, between the Viet Cong and the motley crew we face in Iraq, our enemy is being chased in the deserts of Somalia just as it is in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

As we hunt down the killers who attacked our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya long before there ever was an Iraq war, even long before September 11 finally awakened us to the shape of the new world we live in, we have to remind ourselves again and again that our enemies in the war on terrorism were not created by our action in Iraq, nor will they disappear after we leave that country to its own devices.

This is indeed a nonlinear war in more ways than one. As their original leadership, the Bin Laden-Zawahiri types, sit and contemplate events from the caves of the Afghani-Pakistan border, new Al-Qaeda leaderships sprout around the globe, wherever there are young, impressionable, Muslim men vulnerable to the persuasive tactics of ruthless, fanatic, and anti-Western mentors. With calculated opportunism, they choose their targets according to the vulnerabilities of the soft underbellies of Western societies, whether it is the public transportation systems in Europe or transatlantic airlines—or innocent civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan. The events in Somalia remind of us of certain lessons we should have learned by now."

To read about the lessons which we should have learned, go here.

Chinese Satellite Test Draws Sharp Protest From Other Nations

Washingtonpost.com

By Marc Kaufman and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers

"The Chinese military used a ground-based missile to hit and destroy one of its aging satellites orbiting more than 500 miles in space last week, an apparent test of anti-satellite technology that raised concerns about a possible arms race in space and drew sharp protests from other space-faring nations.

The satellite-destroying test is believed to be the first of its kind in two decades by any nation, and experts say it dramatically illustrates Chinese capabilities in space and their willingness to face the certainty of broad international criticism."

The U.S. believes....."

Strangling the Energy Baby

By Alan Caruba

"There is an effort in Congress -- mostly thanks to the Democrat leadership -- to strangle the energy baby in the cradle. The “Clean Energy Act” will do nothing to encourage oil companies to find and extract the oil and natural gas that would give us greater energy independence. It will, however, raise prices at the pump..."

Fury at Australia cleric comments

BBC NEWS

"Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, head of the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Sydney, urged children to become martyrs for Islam and mocked Jewish people as pigs.

Police are said to be investigating the tapes, which were exposed in a British TV documentary earlier this week.

Top Australian Islamic cleric Sheikh Hilali also sparked controversy, with remarks on women and white Australians.

Sheikh Feiz Mohammed, who has spent the past year living in Lebanon, talks on the controversial videotapes of his desire for children be offered 'as soldiers defending Islam'."

Commanders seek more troops in Afghanistan

The Washington Times

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- "U.S. military commanders have requested additional troops and aid for Afghanistan to combat a growing Taliban insurgency, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said yesterday.

Although the numbers are likely to be a fraction of the more than 21,500 additional troops President Bush has asked for to quell violence in Iraq, the request would put further strain on already stretched U.S. military resources." Continue reading...

Senate Democrats fight proposal to ban relatives lobbying

USATODAY.com:
"Some back it only if family members are grandfathered"

Israel Releasing $100 Million to Abbas

How bloggers took on Harry Reid and won on earmark reform

Robert Bluey, Examiner.com
WASHINGTON - "In ways both big and small, bloggers are changing how business is done on Capitol Hill."

Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics

"The Weather Channel’s most prominent climatologist is advocating that broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about predictions of manmade catastrophic global warming. This latest call to silence skeptics follows a year (2006) in which skeptics were compared to 'Holocaust Deniers' and Nuremberg-style war crimes trials were advocated by several climate alarmists."

Bush Slammed as Border Patrol Agents Begin Prison Terms -- 01/17/2007

Court Rejects Maryland's Anti-Wal-Mart Law

"A federal appeals court on Wednesday said the State of Maryland may not require large retailers (Wal-Mart was the target) to spend 8 percent of their payrolls on health care for employees.

In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that said ......."

Retirement Funds at Stake in 'Clean Energy' Bill, Conservatives Warn

"A vote to raise taxes on domestic energy production will not only increase America's dependence on foreign oil, it also will lower the value of millions of Americans' retirement funds by sending oil companies' stock prices lower, a taxpayer watchdog group is ...."

Congress Looks to Renewable Energy, But OPEC May Benefit

"The final item on House Democrats' '100-hour' agenda -- a bill ending certain tax breaks and subsidies for the oil industry -- is due for a vote on Thursday.

Democrats describe their plan as an investment in renewable energy, but critics, many of them Republicans, warn that if the bill passes, the nation will continue to be....."

Congresswomen Propose Immediate Troop Withdrawal
Three California Democrats in Congress are introducing a bill intended to force President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq within six months...

Bernanke: Boomers to 'Seriously Weaken' Economy

WASHINGTON -- "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the economy could be gravely hurt if the nation's fiscal house is not put in order and Social Security and Medicare aren't revamped.

'If early and meaningful action is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened,' Bernanke said in prepared testimony to the Senate Budget Committee." Read on...

U.S. general wants no change in S.Korea

United Press International

SEOUL, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- "The top U.S. military commander in South Korea warned Thursday changes to the command system could hurt joint......."

High-level Iranian delegation visits N. Korea
USATODAY

SEOUL (AP) — "A high-level Iranian delegation arrived in North Korea on Thursday, the North's media reported, as the two hard-line regimes face international......."

China Welcomes US-North Korea Talks
Playfuls.com

"China on Thursday welcomed the holding of direct talks between North Korea and the United States, saying it hoped the dialogue would lead to the resumption of......."

DISPATCH FROM JERUSALEM: Bush speech seen as preparing for war with Iran

Joel Rosenberg writing on his blog, said he was given this sobering assessment by a senior Israeli political leader over a breakfast meeting:

“Our best case scenario is for missiles to be hitting us in the next year or two. Either the West goes to war to stop Iran from going nuclear, and Iran fires conventional missiles at us in retaliation, or the West waits too long and Iran launches a nuclear first strike at us. Either way, a terrible war is coming. It cannot be avoided.”

Now I am no geopolitical "expert", and I don't have inside contacts in Washington, nor in Israel for that matter, but this is indeed sobering, and quite frankly, seems like a very realistic assessment of Israel's plight given today's environment. I am not shocked at all. We should all be concerned about this possibility.

Religious Persecution Growing Worldwide, Group Says
"At a time when religious persecution prompts growing international concern, Christian advocates in the U.S. marked Religious Freedom Day Tuesday by drawing attention to those who do not have the freedoms enjoyed by Americans"...

Democrats' New 'Fairness' Push May Silence Conservative Radio Hosts, Critics Say

"Democrats in Congress are pushing for legislation that they say would bring more balance to the media, but critics say would muzzle conservative voices.

The Fairness Doctrine, a federal regulation requiring broadcasters to present both sides of a controversial issue, was enforced by the Federal Communications Commission from 1949 to 1987, when it was dropped during the Reagan administration.

Many in the broadcast industry credit the dropping of the rule to the rise of conservative talk radio that became a booming industry, featuring personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham." Read more....

House Oil Bill Called 'First Step' in Energy Policy Shifts

"Activists from more than a dozen environmental groups gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby for the Clean Energy Act, the final part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) '100-hour' agenda that the activists are calling a 'first step' in restructuring the government's energy policy.

The bill would roll back some tax loopholes and subsidies for oil companies and use the increased federal revenue to invest in renewable energy research. Supporters of the measure estimate it will bring in $14 billion over the next 10 years." More....

What these morons don't understand (well, I suspect some might, but don't care) is that any increased cost to "BIG oil" whether it's some 'excess profit' tax, windfall tax, or loss of tax breaks, is going to be passed back to us at the pump; because they are not going to settle for less profit. Any and every company has to make a profit to stay in business. When their costs go up, their prices go up. For us when discussing "BIG oil", that means a price hike at the pump.

A profitable company means profits for the shareholders as well. Gee, what a nice feature.

A Minimum of Understanding On Work And Wages

"Democrats want to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. But raising the minimum wage will harm unskilled workers. If the price of gas went up by 40%, people would buy less gas. Similarly, if the wages businesses must pay low skilled workers increased by the proposed 40%, then companies will buy (i.e. hire) fewer workers."
Read more at TCS Daily.

HillaryCare Alert

"The small victory Hillary Clinton squelched out of her failed universal healthcare program, a plan for taxpayers to pay the federal government to cover healthcare for children, is expected to be a focal point in the Democrats legislative agenda this spring." Read the rest at HumanEvents.

Ready for Ahnoldcare?

Reason Online Magazine
By Ronald Bailey

California's proposed health care 'solution': Not individual and not responsible"

Media Myth: The Recession/Depression of 2006

By Julia A. Seymour
Business and Media Institute

"Do you believe the U.S. economy is in or near a recession? That’s what network news suggested about once a week, on average, in 2006. But even their saying it didn’t make it true. A new BMI analysis reveals the media’s fascination with the Great Depression and hints of “recession,” despite a ridiculously robust economy............"

Networks Link Economy to Depression/Recession; No Wonder We're Depressed

By Dan Gainor
Business and Media Institute

"Networks Link Economy to Depression/Recession; No Wonder We're Depressed
The 2006 collapse never came, so now journalists are looking to 2007 to make their gloomy predictions look smart............."

U.S. said considering release of some N.Korea funds

Washington Post

Tension over North at S.K.-Japan-China summit

"S.K., China propose regular meeting; Japan balks"

N. Korea steps up opposition against GNP's win in election

YONHAP NEWS: "SEOUL, Jan. 17 -- North Korea on Wednesday ratcheted up its rhetoric against South Korea's main opposition party, saying its rise to power may bring about a 'disaster of warfare' on the Korean Peninsula.

'It is not a matter of internal affairs because the Grand National Party's (GNP) winning of the presidential election will turn the inter-Korean relationship into a confrontational one,' said the North's Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party." More....

DIDN'T YOU GET THE MEMO?

ITAR-TASS: "PYONGYANG, January 17 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has urged his countrymen to abstain from shaking hands and greet people with a traditional Korean slight head bow.

The Rodon Sinmun newspaper published Kim's article where he wrote in particular, “it is necessary to great each other Korean style. Handshake is a European custom and it is no good hygienically.”

However, a day after the publication many North Koreans, especially males, continued to shake hands as they used to do this before, a Tass correspondent reported from the capital of North Korea Tuesday."

Anti-US North Korean Posters
By Avi Abrams(Avi Abrams)

The suicidal audacity of North Korean communist regime is simply astonishing. The meaning of text is pretty much the same on ...

The Perils of Micromanagement

David Aikman
Townhall

"President Bush told the nation in a prime-time speech that he had decided to order a significant increase in U.S. troop strength in Baghdad in order to quell the sectarian violence.

The president is fully authorized to order that troop increase. When he was elected president in 2004 he was also elected commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces. This is a one-person responsibility, and it is indeed awesome.

Many Democrats in the House, however, want to take over the job of commander-in-chief and micromanage the war in Iraq. This is a recipe for disaster. It was House and Senate tinkering with funding for South Vietnam that ensured Hanoi's victory over Saigon 31 years ago.

Disagree with the president, even vote against him by all means. But don't try to micromanage his command of the U.S. military."

Six-way talks on N Korea have failed: John Bolton

Russian Envoy: US sanctions against N.Korea must be lifted

US Envoy Says N. Korea Talk 'Useful'
BERLIN (AP) -- The chief US negotiator at six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program said Wednesday he was hopeful the talks can resume by the end of this month, and described a meeting with his North Korean counterpart ...

A FALSE DOCTRINE

“If you assail the right of the people to honor God, then you assail the first principle of their self-government, which is that we are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights leading to the consequence that the only form of government that is legitimate is a form of government that respects those God-given rights. No God, no republic. No God, no representation. No God, no due process. No God, no sanctity of individual rights, liberty, and life. The denial of God is an assault not only upon the people’s conscience, but upon their claim to have from God the right to govern themselves through representative institutions. The triumph of this false doctrine of separation, therefore, portends not only the persecution of our faith, but the destruction of our liberty.”

—Alan Keyes

AT WHAT COST?

“You don’t need religion to tremble at the thought of unrestricted embryo research. You simply have to have a healthy respect for the human capacity for doing evil in pursuit of the good. Once we have taken the position of many stem cell research advocates that embryos are discardable tissue with no more intrinsic value than a hangnail or an appendix, then all barriers are down. What is to prevent us from producing not just tissues and organs but humanlike organisms for preservation as a source of future body parts on demand?... The slope is very slippery.”

—Charles Krauthammer

LOSING REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING'S MESSAGE

From the Patriot Post: "Historian Shelby Steele observes, “There is an awful lot of conservative sentiment in black America, but at the moment, the party line is ruthlessly enforced.” Indeed, those who followed Martin Luther King when he was speaking of freedom, like Jesse Jackson, tolerate no dissension from their liberal ranks now. They have abandoned King’s dream, and aligned themselves with political and social agendas obsessed with color at the expense of character.

Black conservatives of national stature, like Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powel, Ward Connerly, Michael Steele, Jesse Lee Peterson, Alan Keyes, Don Scoggins, Alvin Williams, Ken Blackwell, Thomas Sowell, Star Parker and Walter Williams are routinely castigated by Jackson, et al., as “Uncle Toms” and “puppets.” Yet these are the men and women following the call of King."

Al Gore: I'm Not Running for President

"Asked whether he had plans to stand in the 2008 election, Gore ruled it out, adding: 'I'm involved in a different kind of campaign.'"

UN special envoy optimistic about Darfur

"[J]udges, therefore, should be always men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness, coolness, and attention. Their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests; they should not be dependent upon any man, or body of men."

-- John Adams

Is Iraq a distraction from the war on terror?

No, say Afghanistan's ambassador and the Joint Chiefs chairman.

BY BRENDAN MINITER
Opinion Journal

Thanks to economic freedom, incomes in the developing world start to catch up.

BY MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
Opinion Journal

North Korea Condemns Deployment of U.S. Stealths

Russian Missiles Delivered to Iran

British Navy Ships Move to Counter Iran

"U.S. naval forces in the Mideast are getting a little help from an old friend."

Hillary Slams Edwards on 'Attack'

Tancredo Files for Presidential Campaign

Former Director of United Nations Oil-for Food-Program Indicted
Corporate Crime Reporter - Washington,DC,USA

Benon Sevan, the former executive director of the United Nation's Oil-for-Food-Program, was indicted today in federal court in Manhattan. ...

ECONOMIC FREEDOM

North Korean Economy Watch reports the DPRK finishes in last place in the 2007 ecomic freedom index according to the Heritage 2007 Index of Economic Freedom.

Losses of Religious Freedom Should Wake Up American Christians

By John-Henry Westen

January 16 is religious freedom day in the United States of America. It commemorates the passage of the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson. But the loss of religious freedom is becoming more pronounced in America. A short look at the losses on the religious front in America last year should serve as a wake up call to Christians in the land of the free and the home of the brave…

France: Ministry Withdraws HomeSchooling Prohibition After International Outcry

Castro's condition serious, Spanish newspaper reports - The Boston Globe

BBC: Hamas 'planned to murder Abbas'

Choice of Martinez sparks GOP rebellion

The Washington Times: "Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee over President's Bush's attempt to 'impose' Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida as 'general chairman' of the party, who favors 'amnesty' for illegal aliens."

ANOTHER SLIPPERY SLOPE EXAMPLE

The Seattle Times: Smoking foes bring the fight to apartment buildings: "A year after a statewide smoking ban took effect at workplaces, restaurants, bars and other public places, a new battlefield over secondhand smoke is emerging: apartment buildings."

$ Ka-Ching...Ka-Ching$

Passenger Awarded $400,000 In Racial Profiling Case

Court orders new sentence for "millennium bomber"

"The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco reversed his conviction of carrying an explosive while committing a felony. The felony was lying on a customs form and the court said it ordered the conviction reversed because the jury was not informed about the charge's relationship to the crime." - Reuters

Israel, Syria Deny Report of Unofficial Peace Plan Draft

The Obama Appeal

While it seems as if "Osama Obama" (Ted Kennedy's words) is the media darling of the moment, not everyone is feeding the media monster. Sharpton, Jackson, and Belafonte, for example are not yet aboard the Obama train.

James Taranto at Opinion Journal asks the question why, and explains it thusly:

Our view is that Obama threatens Jackson, Sharpton and Belafonte precisely because he has an appeal that transcends race. If Obama is able to gain widespread appeal as a national political figure, it undermines the basis of white guilt, namely the assumption that America remains a deeply racist society. Men like Jackson, Sharpton and Belafonte have made their careers on the exploitation of white guilt. Obama is a threat to their power and livelihood."

A very logical hypothesis.

Groups Hail New Ruling on Mount Soledad Cross Dispute

" 'Memorials like the one at Mount Soledad are a tribute to our nation's veterans,' said Tim Chandler, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), who called the case 'part of the crusade against a memorial beloved by [veterans] and their families.'

'Now that the cross is clearly under federal control, the 9th Circuit agreed that, with regard to this lawsuit, it was time to end the ACLU's protracted legal attack on this symbol dedicated to our nation's fallen heroes,' Chandler said."

But the fight is not over. The "Anti-Christian Litigation Union" (ACLU), having lost that fight involving the city will now turn its attention and bring suit against the Federal Government.

Related: Another Victory For The Mt. Soledad Cross

Richard Thompson, the President and Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “We welcome this ruling. But the battle to save the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial is not over. The ACLU, displaying it zealous anti-Christian animosity, filed a new lawsuit to remove the Mt. Soledad Cross—this time against the federal government. We must now turn our resources toward defeating them again. We are committed to that task.”

Lobby Reform Bill Would Stifle Free Speech, Say Advocacy Groups

Critics See 'Slippery Slope' in Reintroduced Federal 'Hate Crimes' Law

Backgrounder: What Critics Say About CAIR

Feds Defend Partnership With Islamic Group Under Scrutiny -- 01/16/2007

"Federal government agencies are defending their continuing cooperation with a high-profile Islamic organization at a time when its alleged ties to terrorists have come under renewed scrutiny."

Uganda, UN envoy to northern Ugandan conflict holds talks to try to energize peace process.

Security Council requests dispatch of advance team to Chad, Central African Republic to explore possible United Nations mission in border areas.

Al Jazeera English - Asia-Pacific: "Ships collide off North Korea"

S. Korean fisherman returns home 31 years after abduction by N. Korea

North Korea asked to pay US$1.9 billion for aborted nuclear power plant project - International Herald Tribune

"A government ought to contain in itself every power requisite to the full accomplishment of the objects commmitted to its care, and to the complete execution of the trusts for which it is responsible, free from every other control but a regard to the public good and to the sense of the people."
-- Alexander Hamilton

THE COST OF DEFEAT

"Debate over the new strategy for Iraq mostly has been between those who regard it as a 'last chance' for victory, and those who think the war already is irretrievably lost. About this, two observations:

The first is that we have a much lower threshold for what constitutes defeat than our grandparents did. In the summer of 1942, the Japanese were planning to invade Australia, and German tanks were parked at the Eiffel Tower. But few then said we should throw in the towel.

Our parents and grandparents realized the fascists we were fighting then were really nasty guys; that living in a world in which they were dominant would be intolerable. They realized our country had great strengths, and our enemies had weaknesses. If our strengths could be mobilized, and their weaknesses exploited, victory would be ours.

We did mobilize our strengths. Half our gross domestic product was devoted to the war effort.

Things sure are different now." -- JACK KELLY

CLIMATE PORN

Dagny D'Anconia writes, "If you think the hype and hysteria in our media is bad, you should read or watch newspapers or television in England. It's unhinged. It's so bad that a left-wing think tank in London, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has condemned global warming hype as a form of pornography. They call it "climate porn."
Read more.....

U.S. And North Korea To Talk Soon

U.S. and North Korea are reportedly scheduled to hold talks January 22nd on Korea's nuclear weapons program and the financial sancations against them will be on the table according to the Korea Times.

Related story:
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill sees progress, although it's moving slowly, in North Korea nuclear talks.

He said, the talks do not hold "refuge for those in need of instant gratification, but I do believe that we are making progress on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula."

Chinese, Japanese, S. Korean Leaders Warn DPRK

It is being reported that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), holding a summit in Cebu, Phillipines, their first summit in 2 years because of differences and tension betwixt them, have warned North Korea (DPRK) against pursuing nuclear weapons and told them to desist with their nuclear testing.

Clinton's North Korea-Pakistan Nuclear Legacy

Archontan points out:

"Many conservative commentators are blaming the Clinton-Carter appeasement deal with North Korea for setting the stage for North Korea's nuclear test. But many on both the right and the left are missing something just as important: Pakistan's nuclear program. Pakistan became a member of the nuclear club on Clinton's watch. Pakistan's AQ Khan nuclear proliferation network supplied North Korea with crucial nuclear technology on Clinton's watch. So much for Democratic Party bluster about nonproliferation and whitewashing of the Clinton legacy."

Go read the rest.

United Nations Denies Israeli Violations Into Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon (AHN) - "The United Nations commander in Lebanon said that Israeli did not violate the Blue Line in southern Lebanon. In a statement, Major-General Alain Pellegrini said that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) witnessed no violations, despite media reports suggesting otherwise."

Source: All Headline News

“The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.” -- Ronald Reagan