THIS WEEKEND

I, HH, and HH Jr. will be heading out of town this afternoon for the weekend. We will be participating in our annual fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. So no further postings will be made today or tomorrow, Saturday.

Not sure about Sunday, but most likely later in the day or evening. Everyone have a nice weekend and a safe one.

--HH

If a man speaks in the forest,
But there is no woman to hear him,
IS HE STILL WRONG?

Even as European leftists move right, American ones move further left.
BY JURGEN REINHOUDT

The Man France Needs

By David Aikman

"Ever since the presidency of General de Gaulle, who pulled France out of NATO's command structure, French governments have from time to time given Washington serious heartburn. In 2003, for example, France actively opposed the United States' decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

But the election in May of former interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy as French president is the best news from France in a long time. Sarkozy is unabashedly pro-American, pro-Israeli and favors free-market economic forces and the old-fashioned values of hard work.

Not surprisingly, he's managed to antagonize French intellectuals, who like their presidents to write poetry, have mistresses and hate America.

Sounds like Sarkozy has arrived in the Elysee Palace just in time."

Islamic prayers finally dropped

"Officials at a public elementary school in San Diego are dropping special times for Islamic prayers and classes segregated by sex, changes they had made when students from a failing Arabic-language charter school joined them a year ago."

Montgomery County Public Schools Say Yes to Anal Sex, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transvestitism

"ANN ARBOR, MI – A public school district’s program promoting anal sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, and transvestitism as normal sexual variations was recently approved by the Maryland State Board of Education despite strenuous opposition from several pro-family groups. Montgomery County Public School’s controversial sexuality curriculum for eighth and tenth grade students is the result of pressure by homosexual advocacy groups."

AMBITION OF OTHERS

"Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others."

-- Alexander Hamilton --

Cell Phones to be 'Googled'

"Google is seeking further inroads into the cellphone market by wooing wireless operators to offer cellphones customized to carry Google offerings, including its search engine and its new mobile Web browser."

Hugo Chavez Praises Sean Penn

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised Sean Penn for his critical stance against the war in Iraq, saying the two chatted by phone and soon plan to meet in person."

Giuliani Extends Lead in NBC/WSJ Poll

"Rudy Giuliani has extended his lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll."

India and the Jihadist Pit

STRATFOR
TERRORISM INTELLIGENCE REPORT
By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

"The arrest of three foreign Muslim doctors in connection with the failed June 29-30 bombings in London and Glasgow, Scotland, has caused the British government to initiate a review of the process by which the National Health Service recruits doctors from abroad. This case, however, raises concerns far beyond the British Isles. Of the five main suspects in the case, three were born and raised in India -- in the high-tech hub of Bangalore, no less -- a fact that might suggest India is breeding transnational jihadists. Moreover, this Bangalore connection has raised fears among the city's foreign-owned technology companies.

India has had problems with Islamist militant groups since its independence. For most of this time, the militants -- whose goals are largely separatist/nationalist in nature -- have focused on India itself. Over the past few years, though, India's radical Islamist groups have begun to flirt with the concept of transnational jihadism as embraced by al Qaeda. However, while three of the suspects in the United Kingdom plot are Indian and do appear to have been motivated by jihadist ideology, this case does not signify that India has fallen into the jihadist pit -- at least not yet.

In fact, India's Muslim community has not provided a strong radical current for jihadists to exploit. It is important to note that the Ahmed brothers were not radicalized in India (or even in Saudi Arabia, where they lived for a time). Rather, they were radicalized while living in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Londonistan has a history of doing that to impressionable Muslim lads. For instance, it is telling that Kafeel allegedly conducted his operation with his friends in the United Kingdom and not his friends in Bangalore.

According to our information, al Qaeda is not focusing on India, largely because it believes there is no real hope of stirring up a jihadist uprising there. Indeed, Indian Muslims are far more integrated in India than they are in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Additionally, Indian Muslims are much more moderate and tend to practice the Sufi form of Islam. Al Qaeda also is concerned about being betrayed by Pakistani assets in India.

This source information has been supported by events on the ground. In spite of the attempts to provoke communal violence inside India by attacking both Hindu and Muslim religious sites, the majority of Indian Muslims have not taken the bait -- much to the dismay of these militant groups.

Therefore, the largest jihadist threat to targets in India right now appears to be Indian Muslims who are radicalized outside India. The large number of Indian Muslims studying abroad could include some who will return home as jihadists and infiltrate Western high-tech companies operating in India"

BRIDGE COLLAPSES

I had some anxious moments last night when I heard a bridge had collapsed in Minneapolis that crosses over the Mississippi River. The initial reports left it unclear to me exactly which bridge it was that had collapsed.

But I knew that my twin daughters and their significant others were going to the Minnesota Twins baseball game last night at 7:10 P.M. One of them lives in St. Paul and has to cross the Mississippi to get to Minneapolis and to the baseball stadium.

Fortunately, my daughter had a power outage in her apartment complex which delayed her and her fiancee and put them behind schedule. They got to the area and traffic was at a standstill and they could see black smoke. This was around 6:10 P.M.

They turned around and found an alternate route and heard on the radio what had just happened. Thank God for that.

The death toll is low right now, but it will go higher as there are vehicles in the river with victims still inside. I expect possibly a final death toll to be around 40 when it is all over.

My other twin daughter found out this morning that a friend and co-worker's car fell 60 feet and she is now at the hospital and she is going into surgery and both of her legs are broken and her spine is fractured.

My prayers go out to the victims and their families.

Story: Reuters
Search for missing in Minneapolis bridge collapse.

Arsenals to be upgraded in Middle East

"WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Iran is working on a new arms deal with Russia, an Israeli news report claimed Monday."

ACLU fights immunity for telecoms

"WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The ACLU has warned against giving U.S. telecom companies immunity for cooperating in illegal wiretaps."

Boehner backs Bush on FISA reform

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The House Republican leader has backed President Bush on trying to boost the FISA law.

ON SECOND THOUGHT, DON'T SURRENDER

By James Taranto
Opinion Journal

In an important and surprising New York Times op-ed piece, Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, both from the liberal Brookings Institution, describe a visit to Iraq, where they find that things are not as bad as--well, as New York Times readers have been led to believe. The piece is titled "A War We Just Might Win".

O'Hanlon and Pollack report that Sunni sheikhs in Anbar province "are close to crippling Al Qaeda and its Salafist allies," that "the Iraqis have stepped up to the plate" in the northern cities of Tal Afar and Mosul, and that "the American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners."

They say the situation "remains grave," especially on the "political front," but they counsel against a quick retreat, as many Democrats on Capitol Hill have been advocating.

In a way, though, what is most telling about this piece is the introduction:

Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration's critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

For the sake of argument, let us suppose that the authors are right when they claim the Bush administration has "lost essentially all credibility." Does this excuse the administration's critics for being "unaware of the significant changes taking place"--especially when some of those critics have, for reasons of partisanship, ideology or just plain animus, actively campaigned to destroy the administration's credibility?

In the critics' defense, one may say that they have not, by and large, been in positions of responsibility; that if things have gone wrong in Iraq, the administration deserves the lion's share of the blame.

On the other hand, those critics now include the leaders of both houses of Congress, as well as several politicians who would like to become president. For them, at least, it is a serious failure of leadership if they base their views on Iraq on their own disdain for President Bush, or the hope of exploiting voters' disdain for him, rather than on reality.

The Surge is Working

By Hugh Hewitt
Townhall.com

"The evidence continues to accumulate that the surge in Iraq is indeed working. Every metric the coalition forces keep shows stability or improvement. And while the loss of life is terrible in Iraq, it is declining.

The American public has begun to hear these reports evidenced by a significant shift in support for the conduct of the war in the polls. General Petraeus is effectively taking the war to our enemies; we are in fact winning. This is great news not only for Iraq and the United States, but for all countries threatened by Islamic jihadists whose weapons are terror and indiscriminate killing.

Congressional Democrats may be the last people to recognize what is happening in Iraq, but their efforts to demand defeat on a date certain will continue to fail as Americans realize that the surge is working. It may take two or more years to fully stabilize Iraq, but this is essential work. For more information visit www.victorycaucus.com and let your congressmen and senators know you support victory."

"No nation was ever ruined by trade, even seemingly the most disadvantageous."

-- Benjamin Franklin and George Whaley (Principles of Tade, 1774) --

Fred Thompson's 'trophy wife' runs the show

Jeri Thompson, the wife of former US senator Fred Thompson, has emerged as the real political force behind his presidential campaign. Read on...

New York's Mayor Bloomberg in sex lawsuit

A possible presidential bid by Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, could be threatened by new details of a sexual harassment lawsuit that alleged he said "kill it!" to an executive who told him that she was pregnant.
Read on...

Taliban in first heat-seeking missile attack

Taliban militants have used a heat-seeking surface-to-air missile to attack a Western aircraft over Afghanistan for the first time. Read on...

Alarm bells on China

The Washington Times

"The 'global economy' is not based on the 'harmony of interests' once envisioned by 19th century classical liberals, but on cut-throat competition. Winners and losers in these commercial contests impact the national societies in which they operate. Where factories and research labs are located, where high-skilled jobs and workers reside, where income is earned, spent and invested and where education and enterprise are fostered make all the difference in the world. There is no world community in any meaningful sense. Energetic nations rise, complacent ones decline. If globalization is anything more than a catch phrase, it means the age-old struggle for wealth and power is now waged worldwide. It matters more than ever who comes out ahead." Full story.

Iran attacks U.S. plans for Saudi arms deal

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the United States on Monday of seeking to create fear and divisions in the Middle East after reports Washington was readying major arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Full story.

Pro-Taliban force seizes Pakistani shrine

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pro-Taliban militants seized control of a shrine in northwestern Pakistan and renamed it after Islamabad's Red Mosque; meanwhile, 10 people died in the latest violence near the Afghan border, officials said today. Full story.

Brussels aims to halt Polish road

The European Commission seeks a court order to stop Poland resuming work on a road through a wildlife area. Read on...

UN inspectors visit key Iran site

Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog visit Iran's heavy water reactor in Arak for the first time since April.

Read on...

Many Asians 'do not feel British'

BBC News

More than a third of British Asians feel just slightly or not at all British, a BBC survey suggests.
Read on...

SCHIP: A Step Towards Socialism

By Michael Franc

During the heady days of 1993 when former First Lady Hillary Clinton assembled a group of health experts to reconfigure our health-care system, liberal strategists realized that the march toward socialized medicine might be a slow and halting one. Thus, they devised several alternate routes to the promised land of a universal, government-run system.

Read on.

Why is the American Government Releasing Guantanamo Prisoners?

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

Calling him a "senior Taliban commander," The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up at his hide-out in the town of Zhob in southwestern Baluchistan Province in Pakistan, rather than surrender to government forces. More...

The Hollywood Culture Takes Over

By Michael Reagan

"The Kennedy definition of politics was that it “ain’t beanball,” but as the Democratic debates on CNN the other night showed, politics ain’t even politics anymore – it’s show business a la Hollywood.

Among the Democrats, the culture of American politics has succumbed ... "

An Immigration Tragedy

By Nathan Tabor

For all those who protest any effort to crack down on illegal immigration?for those who claim that we should pursue an open borders policy at all costs?I can only hope that you will study the story of Zina Linnik and reconsider a course which is putting our children at serious risk. Read on.

Rove's Diagnosis

By Robert D. Novak

"WASHINGTON -- Karl Rove, President Bush's political lieutenant, told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party's defeat in the 2006 elections.

Rove's clear advice to the candidates is to distance themselves from the culture of Washington. Specifically, Republican candidates are urged to make clear they have no connection with disgraced congressmen such as Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley.

In effect, Rove was rebutting the complaint inside the party that George W. Bush is responsible for Republican miseries by invading Iraq." More...

The Pakistan dilemma: The perils of a precarious antiterror ally.

The YouTube Debate: Send In The Clowns

By Ken Connor

"George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. Franklin Roosevelt. John F. Kennedy. Ronald Reagan. Who among these men would answer, with a straight face, a question posed by a snowman?"

Read on.

Our National Funk

By Michael Barone

"Not all is gloom out there. That's the dominant message from the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project's poll of 47 nations. Pew found that there is rising or constantly high contentment all over the globe with one's quality of life and family income. Satisfaction tends to be highest in the United States and Canada, but not far behind are Western Europe and Latin America. Even in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, about one-third are highly satisfied with their quality of life and income.

As the Pew Global analysts point out, there is a high correlation here with economic growth -- and the world is producing ..... "

Left Smears War Hero Judicial Nominee

By Matt Barber

"What they lack in originality they make up for in audacity. Once again, obstructionism is the name of the game as Senate liberals use the same tired playbook to block President Bush’s judicial nominees. They have their marching orders from the usual suspects — Moveon.org, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, People for the American Way, yada, yada — and predictably, Senate liberals are dutifully obedient. Since taking control six months ago Democrats have approved a whopping three appellate court judges. They’re not just dragging their feet; they’ve firmly planted them.

Case in point: There’s absolutely no legitimate reason for anyone to oppose President Bush’s nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In fact, the Senate ......."

The Future Has Arrived

By Albert Mohler
Townhall.com

For some time now ethicists have warned that the development of real animal-human combinations--known as chimeras--was nearing on the horizon. Now, according to some reports, the future has arrived.

A report out of Britain indicates that scientists are experimenting with more human-animal combinations at the cellular and genetic levels, now including the insertion of human brain cells into mice.

Researchers in the United States have been allowed to insert "some aspects of human consciousness or some human cognitive abilities" in animals. This is scary stuff.

We all hope for treatments and cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, but not at any cost. These scientists are working way beyond any clear moral guidelines. University-based ethics panels keep changing the lines and boundaries at the demands of researchers.

We need a set of rules and policies in force right now--before a mouse really does come up and ask for a cookie.

CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT

"A quick withdrawal from Iraq could lead to devastating casualties within the U.S. from al-Qaida attacks.

I think there is an attraction and a very sincere commitment by everybody, Republicans or Democrats, to bringing the boys and girls home. Nobody wants our men and women in the military to be there one day longer than they need to be.

[But] What you don't hear is the same people talk about the consequences of bringing them home. The consequences could very well be dead Americans inside the United States if Iraq becomes a safe haven."

- - Fran Townsend, the White House's chief of counterterrorism.

More...