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Pakistan 115th most peaceful country
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Page 3: Non-WoT
13 00:00 Gary and the Samoyeds [7] 
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8 00:00 Red Dawg [11] 
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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming
Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850," said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery.

Other researchers found evidence that 3) sea levels are failing to rise importantly; 4) that our storms and droughts are becoming fewer and milder with this warming as they did during previous global warmings; 5) that human deaths will be reduced with warming because cold kills twice as many people as heat; and 6) that corals, trees, birds, mammals, and butterflies are adapting well to the routine reality of changing climate.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The supporters of the MMGW theory intentionally try to confuse global warming, which actually may be happening, with mankind's ability to cause or mitigate it, which is very debatable.

So every time it is argued, the two things have to be separated as distinct things. From that point, there is a new argument.

If the tiny, marginal contribution that people make to the world's atmosphere is enough to change it, then all that is needed is a tiny bit of mitigation--not broad, sweeping economic adjustment and impoverishment.

And if that contribution and its mitigation are within natural variation of several major parts of the global heating and cooling system, then any efforts humans could make are futile.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/13/2007 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Fascinating stuff going on at http://www.climateaudit.org/

Steve McKintyre has forced Hansen to disgorge the code which calculates the global mean temperature and hence the amount of warming that is happening (or not).

An open source movement is underway to reproduce his results using clean, well understood code and high quality weather stations.

Whatever the result, it is a fascinating exercise in taking the oracle from the high priests and turning it over to the people. Could well be the most important internet phenomena we have ever seen.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/13/2007 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Whatever the result, it is a fascinating exercise in taking the oracle from the high priests and turning it over to the people.

Now you know why one of the major first acts with great impact of the Reformation was to translate the Bible in to the local language of the people.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/13/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

#4  "There may have been a consensus of guesses among climate model-builders," says Singer.

Me? I attribute it their sniffing copious amounts of climate model glue.
Posted by: eLarson || 09/13/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#5  re: corals

I've done my share of diving Hawaii, Mexico, South America, Caribbean, North Africa, but many folks have done lots more..

Some of the inane arguments, supposedly scientific which state that the great Barrier Reef will fold when the ocean surface TEMP goes up 2 more degrees by Year _________!

DOOM.

Green Wieners.

Corals have been around allot longer than Man has. Check!

Therefore Coral has been subject to a few thousand more extreme Tempature shifts over the millenia [or milleniaS?], certainly more than any of the those shifty Gore relatives.

Identical Corals grow from different Island chains sometimes thousands of miles apart.

Well guess what, sometimes the Temps are cooler or hotter thousands of miles away, I hope you're sitting down now, more than 2 degrees even, respectively.

Corals adapt in many ways. gawd i'm schmart!!

Growing deeper or closer to the surface. Brace yournself, Sometimes they just plain tolerate higher TEMPS.

Course I hope you've all heard we are about to enter a period called Neukular Winter!

No sh$T!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/13/2007 14:33 Comments || Top||

#6  red dog, if you're a diver... check this out
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Acid_Rain_Has_a_Disproportionate_Impact_on_Coastal_Waters_999.html
Posted by: Skunky Elmavise4463 || 09/13/2007 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Please embed links. See this page if you don't know how that works - it's very straight forward.
Posted by: lotp || 09/13/2007 17:41 Comments || Top||


Quake Triggers Tsunami in Indonesia
A powerful earthquake shook Indonesia on Wednesday, killing 10 people, injuring scores and triggering a small tsunami that hit one city on the island of Sumatra, authorities said.

The 8.4-magnitude quake off Sumatra damaged homes, mosques and shopping malls along the coast and could be felt in at least four countries, with tall buildings swaying as far as 1,200 miles away. It was followed by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which registered at a magnitude of 6.6 and triggered a second tsunami alert for Indonesia, which was lifted about an hour later, said Suhardjono, an official with Indonesia's meteorological agency, who goes by only one name.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow. too bad
Posted by: Frank G || 09/13/2007 6:32 Comments || Top||

#2  inshallah. hahahaha.
Posted by: jds || 09/13/2007 9:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Surf's up!
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Quake Triggers Tsunami in Indonesia

yep, you got a small taste of what you deserve and will git absolute zip from us...

and many more happy returns..
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/13/2007 14:42 Comments || Top||

#5  We'll trade an relief package for Bashir alive.

Otherwise, go piss up a rope.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/13/2007 16:30 Comments || Top||

#6  If there were a Christian or Bhuddist (or heck, Satanist) community and we were sure that nothing would be skimmed off...

Otherwise, nope.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 21:55 Comments || Top||


'Killer Bees' Descend on New Orleans
Africanized honeybees, a fierce hybrid strain sometimes referred to as "killer bees," appear to have established themselves in the New Orleans area, the state agriculture commissioner said.

A swarm of the bees was captured about five miles from where demolition workers found a colony of Africanized bees in January, commissioner Bob Odom said Tuesday. The most recent find was close enough to the earlier find that the bees might have come from the same colony. But they might also have flown ashore from a passing ship or barge, Odom said in a news release.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Africanized honeybees

Apis mellifera scutella (Africanized Bee). A dangerous hybrid, that passes down the trait of defensiveness and entitlement to each offspring. They are bad tempered and can stay angry for a lifetime days, fly very slow, produce about one fifth of the honey of a European bee, do not like cold climates.

They'll feel right at home in New Orleans.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/13/2007 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Perhaps they produce less honey in colder climates, Besoeker, but it's my understanding that in warm weather areas they are far more productive than Asian or Italian honeybees.

This is one of the reasons beekeepers have tried to use them, and hybridize with them, for many decades now - not always with good effect, obviously.
Posted by: no mo uro || 09/13/2007 5:27 Comments || Top||

#3  How much chocolate can they produce?
Posted by: Ray Nagin || 09/13/2007 7:42 Comments || Top||

#4  This was a move about 30 years ago.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 8:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, sir. Your plan to nuke them was stymied. What next?
Do we still have Rove's pet killer bees in storage?
I believe we do sir.
You know what to do...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  I blame Bush.
Posted by: jds || 09/13/2007 9:22 Comments || Top||

#7  I've seen Killer Beez. He's very funny and he's on John Boy and Billy a lot.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/13/2007 11:37 Comments || Top||

#8  All your previous weak-ass bees are belong to us!
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/13/2007 11:54 Comments || Top||

#9  I wanna see Gloria Vanderbilt's boy cover this New Orleans story. He will look like the aftermath of collagen injection day at the Park Avenue free clinic.
Posted by: ed || 09/13/2007 12:03 Comments || Top||

#10  We are the Killer Bees. Bring us your pollen. And a daiquiri too.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 09/13/2007 14:34 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm disappointed--I thought for sure a John Belushi picture would accompany this story.
Posted by: Crusader || 09/13/2007 19:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Why has no one yet welcomed our new apiam overlords?
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 21:55 Comments || Top||

#13  In a cloud that blocks out the sun?

Is Barbara Stanwyck involved?
Posted by: Gomez Criter3762 || 09/13/2007 23:47 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Japan's prime minister resigns
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced his resignation after less than a year in office.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "...Mr Abe says he has “no intention of staying on” as leader if MPs block a move to extend Japan’s support of the US-led mission in Afghanistan."

WTF!! The Japanese are over there wrestling with their consciences over the US's taking the fight to the Taliban, Osama & Co, and Mullah Omar?? Let's see just how fast they jump in line should we pull our troops and Aegis defense systems out of theater. The Japanese MP's, I'm sure, knows that the Norks are snarling down their necks and The Red Dragon Chicoms are just itching to put their little island in China's huge 'backyard', fence and all! My advice to the Japanese... go ahead, put a contingent in Afghanistan, even if it's just guarding poppy fields, thank the US for our presence and STFU!!!
Posted by: smn || 09/13/2007 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Dittos.
Posted by: Excalibur || 09/13/2007 9:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
Swiss citizenship system 'racist'
An official report into the process of naturalisation in Switzerland says the current system is discriminatory and in many respects racist. The report, from Switzerland's Federal Commission on Racial Discrimination, recommends far-reaching changes.

It criticises the practice of allowing members of a community to vote on an individual's citizenship application. Muslims and people from the Balkans and Africa are the most likely to be rejected, the report points out.
The reason why, of course, is the important issue here. Are the locals being racist, or are they showing good sense in not giving citizenship to people who aren't assimilating and becoming Swiss? One could try to answer that question, or one could just assume that they naturally must be racists.
Switzerland has Europe's toughest naturalisation laws. Foreigners must live for 12 years in a Swiss community before they can apply, and being born in Switzerland brings no right to citizenship.

Under the current system, foreigners apply through their local town or village. They appear before a citizenship committee and answer questions about their desire to be Swiss. After that, they must often be approved by the entire voting community, in a secret ballot, or a show of hands. This practice, the report says, is particularly likely to be distorted by racial discrimination.

It cites the case of a disabled man originally from Kosovo. Although fulfilling all the legal criteria, his application for citizenship was rejected by his community on the grounds that his disability made him a burden on taxpayers, and that he was Muslim.
Muslim alone shouldn't disqualify him. Was he assimilating? Could he yodel? Was he assimilating? Had he learned one of the official Swiss languages? Was he assimilating? What was the disability? Was he assimilating?
The report recommends that decisions on citizenship should be decided by an elected executive and not by the community as a whole. But such a move is likely to encounter stiff opposition.
Can't imagine why.
Foreigners are a key issue in the run-up to Switzerland's general election next month. The right-wing Swiss People's Party, currently leading in the opinion polls, claims Swiss communities have a democratic right to decide who can or cannot be Swiss.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/13/2007 12:20 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Swiss communities have a democratic right to decide who can or cannot be Swiss.

is this pure common sense or what?
Posted by: Skunky Elmavise4463 || 09/13/2007 14:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like a good system to me. The harder it is to enter somewhere, the more worthwhile it is.

Racism must be used in its MSM sense here, i.e. disagrees with leftards.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/13/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Geez AH can't you read your own post????


What was his disability, you ask. He's a Muslim, you said it yourself!!!! Geeez......8^)
Posted by: AlanC || 09/13/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||

#4  An official report into the process of naturalization in Switzerland says the current system is discriminatory and in many respects racist.

Mygahd, who do Swiss think they are, a tenured law school faculty?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/13/2007 16:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Muslim alone shouldn't disqualify him. Was he assimilating? Could he yodel? Was he assimilating? Had he learned one of the official Swiss languages? Was he assimilating? What was the disability? Was he assimilating?

Why not?
Posted by: Excalibur || 09/13/2007 16:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Geez AH can't you read your own post????

AlanC, inline commentary highlighted in a color other than lemon yellow is that of a moderator and not the original poster. In this case, Steve White.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/13/2007 16:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Ooops Sorry. Thought that was the poster.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/13/2007 16:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Whew, thanks, Zen.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/13/2007 17:00 Comments || Top||

#9  There are also different rules for men and women. If a woman marries a Swiss man she can become a citizen. If a man marries a Swiss woman he's SOL.

BTW, having the community vote makes a lot of sense. These are the people who know you best.
Posted by: Iblis || 09/13/2007 17:03 Comments || Top||

#10  And who have to live with you.
Posted by: lotp || 09/13/2007 17:52 Comments || Top||

#11  They not only cited being Muslim as a reason (check), but also a burden on the taxpayers too?

Man, what are the gun laws like in Switzerland? I think we're on to the location for the first international Rantapalooza (or a good country to head to if it all goes south here).
Posted by: BA || 09/13/2007 20:30 Comments || Top||

#12  Having recently lived in Switzerland I can say without equivocation that they are the most principled, law-abiding people I have ever encountered. Their minds are open, not "agape". They abide by their own rules and expect that others who want to live amongst them do the same.
Posted by: tzsenator || 09/13/2007 21:48 Comments || Top||

#13  They're pretty strict, BA: you have to have one.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 21:56 Comments || Top||


France considers return to NATO command
France has raised the possibility of rejoining NATO's military command after a 40-year absence, signalling what could be one of the biggest foreign policy changes in decades.
Guess we found an accordion.
Defence Minister Herve Morin gave a keynote speech that confirmed President Nicolas Sarkozy's ambition to strengthen France's role in the Atlantic Alliance.

Since taking power in May, Sarkozy has underscored the importance of the Franco-American relationship, and stressed that Europe's fledgling defence system should not compete with the 26-member NATO. The French president said last month he would shortly take "very strong" initiatives on European defence and to give France "its full place" in the NATO military alliance.

Some experts believe Sarkozy could soon end France's 40-year absence from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's military command, from which President Charles de Gaulle withdrew in 1966. On Tuesday, at a military and defence industry congress, Morin said he was "convinced that European defence will make no progress unless France changes its political behaviour within NATO."

"We are too often the ones who bicker and hesitate, as if we wanted to give the impression we don't want NATO to transform itself," he told delegates in Toulouse, southwestern France.

If France -- the fifth largest financial contributor to NATO -- becomes a more cooperative ally, Morin appeared to suggest, it would be easier to win backing for European defence projects among NATO's members in Europe.

Morin insisted France's "priority is to support and relaunch Europe's security and defence policy", but asked: "Why should our partners lose faith in a system that has ensured peace for 50 years, in favour of a system that does not yet exist?"

Paris rejoined NATO's military committee in 1996 grouping military chiefs of staff under President Jacques Chirac. But the rapprochement was cut short after Washington refused to share more power with European countries in the integrated military structure.

Morin suggested France could now resume "the work begun in 1996", saying that France's role in NATO would be tackled in a white paper on defence and national security to be delivered in March 2008.

French newspaper Le Monde quoted an official source as saying Paris could use a NATO summit in Bucharest next year to raise the issue of France's return to NATO military command. Defence expert Bruno Tertrais said such a move "would mark a major political break with France's foreign policy since 1967." "The simplistic way of looking at this is to say: we have a pro-American president so we are going to join NATO again," he said, arguing that the option was seen in Paris as a way to boost European defence projects.

Weighing the "pros and cons" of a closer relationship with NATO, Morin said France could increase its "influence" on NATO military operations, "usefully steer" the alliance's transformation, and reap the "benefits" in terms of command posts. On the downside, Morin said France "must not dismiss" the risk of a "weakening of our international position, which could appear more aligned" -- reflecting the view that Paris' independent stance gives it strategic clout.
With Arab states, he means.
France's position as relative outsider has not stopped it taking part in major missions, including NATO deployments to the Balkans in the 1990s, or currently as part of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan. But Paris' decision to remain outside the military command has also been criticised for slowing missions down, because of the need to devise add-on arrangements for France whenever the alliance acts.
Posted by: lotp || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meh. What's the difference? Anyone think France will respond to an attack on any other NATO country? The only country that does that is the US. Just another possible responsibility for the US. Keep them out. Hell, get us out.
Posted by: jds || 09/13/2007 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Is there any real military reason to be in NATO now [other then the impending liberation of Aruba from Hugo]? Not being in NATO does not preclude coordinating on subjects/missions of common interest.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/13/2007 9:42 Comments || Top||

#3  A veto, intel, technology transfer, co-development and get to show off the NATO sticker when selling their goods.
Posted by: ed || 09/13/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Morin said France could increase its "influence" on NATO military operations, "usefully steer" the alliance's transformation, and reap the "benefits" in terms of command posts.

Color me sceptical that this is anything other than a French attempt to control, co-opt and be in charge.

Over my dead tax dollars, if I can help it. Not until we have a lot more than Sarkozy's words to show some shift in French attitudes throughout the country.

I'll be damned if I'll trust them to be on our side -- as a country, not individuals like JFM and our other esteemed RB regulars -- without a whole lot of proof.
Posted by: lotp || 09/13/2007 12:03 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm with lotp.

And I must say, I'm less enchanted with NATO with every passing day. Vital in its day, useful til recently, but now? I'm not sure the advantages outweigh the costs.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/13/2007 14:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Russia is looking to WEurope, espec GERMANY, to help resolve its Fascist-for-Communism economic and demographic probs and vv USA. Despite intesnifying investments in France, Russ still has issues wid France over dat Napoleon invasion thingy.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/13/2007 22:40 Comments || Top||


UK, Italy rumored to seek cuts in Eurofighter Tranche 3 order
The Ministry of Defence is trying to find a way out of a £5 billion contract to buy Eurofighter Typhoons from the consortium that builds the aircraft. Britain is committed to buying 88 more of the £60 million aircraft, having already bought 144 for the RAF. The MoD is negotiating with the consortium of defence companies that builds Eurofighter, which includes BAE Systems, to reduce, delay or entirely cancel the final order.

This would be a significant blow to BAE because it could bring production of the Eurofighter to an end before further export orders can be won.

Stefan Zoller, chief executive of EADS Defence Systems, which is part of the Eurofighter consortium, said that the MoD was negotiating with the aircraft’s manufacturers over how much it would cost to cut the Tranche 3 order.

The MoD has asked what each aircraft would cost if it ordered fewer than 88. The MoD is also understood to be considering delaying or cancelling the order entirely. Defence sources said that the Treasury would not allow the MoD to buy both Tranche 3 of Eurofighter and the Joint Strike Fighter, which will be flown off the two new aircraft carriers being built for the Royal Navy.

The MoD is working on a compromise that would enable it to count 72 Typhoons that it is about to sell to Saudi Arabia as part of its 88 commitment. However, Mr Zoller insisted that the Tranche 3 contract was firm and that this was not an option. “The Saudi order will be on top, not instead of Tranche 3,” he said.

The British Government sent a contract for 72 Typhoons to Saudi Arabia last week and King Abdullah is expected to sign it any day. The contract will be worth about £5 billion to BAE initially, plus a further £5 billion in armaments and £10 billion in long-term maintenance.

Eurofighter was conceived in the 1980s as a pan-European project to build a next-generation fighter capable of defending the West against Soviet air attack. Delays to the project mean that the Typhoons have only recently been deployed by the RAF. Britain, Italy, Germany and Spain are collaborating on the Eurofighter project and each nation has a commitment to buy a certain number of aircraft from the consortium of BAE, EADS and Finmeccanica.

The Italian Government is rumoured to want to cut its Tranche 3 commitment of 46 aircraft and, if both Britain and Italy cancel, it could force the end of Eurofighter production. If there are insufficient orders from the partner countries, the consortium will be unable to keep production going long enough to win other orders.

Typhoon is hoping to compete in a $10 billion procurement competition in India, where it is up against America’s F16 and Soviet MiGs, and an $8 billion competition in Japan.

A spokesman for BAE said: “The consortium is talking to the British and Italian governments, as they have asked for Tranche 3 options. We are working with the MoD on our long-term partnership.”

The MoD said: “Discussions between the partner nations and industry on Tranche 3 are at an early stage and will continue throughout the rest of this year.”
Posted by: mrp || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Typhoon is hoping to compete in a $10 billion procurement competition in India, where it is up against America’s F16 and Soviet MiGs

They can hope all they want... the Indo-US nuclear deal pretty much assures that it will be an American fighter that will be chosen....
Posted by: john frum || 09/13/2007 6:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Europe, I've got a movie line for ya.

"You can hope in one hand and crap in the other.."
Posted by: Mike N. || 09/13/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  The British have been saying since the start of the Saudi deal that the Typhoon would come out of Britain's allocation. Push comes to shove, the Brits could buy the 72 Typhoons and resell them to the Saudis.

I guess the British have finally wised up that on joint Euro projects, everybody, but esp the Germans, overstate acquisition numbers in order to grab as much work share in the program as possible. Besides, Germany had already reduced the agreed up number and screwed Britain and Italy in the process.
Posted by: ed || 09/13/2007 11:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Is this the one that removed the gun in order to save money?
Posted by: Free Radical || 09/13/2007 15:03 Comments || Top||

#5  This is so funny. I mean the Euros are spending huge amounts of dough for a fighter that is obsolete as soon as it leaves the factory. This thing is light years behind the F-22.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/13/2007 15:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Sandy Burglar advising Hilde's campaign
Beldar has the details. Long post chock full o'facts. And spread the word, for reasons that you'll see. Just as a sample of Beldar's style:
This is a story about a buffoon who became one of our nation's top national security officials, and then became a confessed national security criminal. His probation ended last week, and he still can't be given access to classified documents or information. But he's once again part of the "triumvirate" of senior officials advising She Who Would Be President on foreign policy matters.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  not to mention his China money grubbing... Sleaze Sleaze Sleaze.
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/13/2007 1:42 Comments || Top||

#2  So, what they are saying is felons will be in charge of national policy, again?
Posted by: newc || 09/13/2007 2:17 Comments || Top||

#3  For phuechs sake! Due to confessions of multiple violations of US Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 37, Sec 781., Sec. 793, Burger can no longer hold a NAC Secret, but he can "advise" die beast on Forign Policy........ what am I missing?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/13/2007 4:00 Comments || Top||

#4  "...what am I missing?"

The Clinton Factor-- a complete absence of shame, the total banishment of morality by a cold calculus of personal advantage, and the deep, unshakable conviction that if you smile enough and tell clever enough lies, the American people are gullible enough to let you get away with ANYTHING.

Fourteen months from now, we'll know if the Clintons' contempt for Americans' intelligence is justified.

Posted by: Dave D. || 09/13/2007 6:23 Comments || Top||

#5  we'll know the first time her face cracks when Fred rips her in a debate. She's all about controlled questioning, and won't be able to handle it
Posted by: Frank G || 09/13/2007 6:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Berglar's clearance is only suspended, not revoked, as Mine would have been. The suspension ends sometime around January 2009. What a coincidence.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 9:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Okay, Sandy. Your first job is to head out to Colorado and see that "asian fellow". Explain the situation. Kinda like Tom Hagen did to Frank Pantangelli.
And if he's got any cash around, stuff it down your pants...
Posted by: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton || 09/13/2007 9:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer.

What dirt Sandy has can sink the Clintonista dynasty. Too late to Foster him, too much coverage even with MSM carrying her water. It appears that Hsu shoe was about to drop on another. Too many bodies, too short of a time. Ah, the good side of multi year campaigning. More time for all the skeletons to come forward.

Its so byzantine1 cause she is another Theodora .

1a : of, relating to, or characterized by a devious and usually surreptitious manner of operation b : intricately involved : LABYRINTHINE. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Byzantine
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/13/2007 9:59 Comments || Top||

#9  Burglar Bungler is advising Hildabeast on how to stay out of jail?
Posted by: JohnQC || 09/13/2007 12:12 Comments || Top||

#10  He took a hit for the team. Now they're showing their gratitude.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/13/2007 15:02 Comments || Top||

#11  GaryJackal, not only would your security clearance been revoked instead of suspended, your FREEDOM would have been revoked. I don't know what he's got on Bush, but it must be big.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/13/2007 17:47 Comments || Top||

#12 
Its so byzantine1 cause she is another Theodora .


Don't insult Theodora.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 09/13/2007 18:53 Comments || Top||


Top Democrat vows to block possible Bush nominee
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed on Wednesday to block former Solicitor General Theodore Olson from becoming attorney general if President George W. Bush nominates him to replace Alberto Gonzales.

Congressional and administration officials have described Olson as a leading contender for the job as the nation's chief U.S. law enforcement officer, but Reid declared: "Ted Olson will not be confirmed" by the Senate. "He's a partisan, and the last thing we need as an attorney general is a partisan," Reid told Reuters in a brief hallway interview on Capitol Hill.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fuel for the fire, Harry. Bring it on. Your party is going down in 08', mark my words.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 09/13/2007 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  "Recess appointment, here we come!"
Posted by: PBMcL || 09/13/2007 1:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Fine bush. Go ahead and fire ALL of the rest of the attorneys again. Just kidding, but would be really funny.

It would not matter who is recommended, you will not listen to testimony and you do not care. The world is as you want it to be, not as it is.
Posted by: newc || 09/13/2007 2:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Hardly surprising. Harry Reid wouldn't support his own mother if "W" forwarded her as a nominee.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/13/2007 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  would you really want "Supported by Reid and Pelosi" on your resume? I'd consider it a badge of honor/integrity if they threw hissyfits opposing me
Posted by: Frank G || 09/13/2007 8:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Excellent point Frank.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/13/2007 8:55 Comments || Top||

#7  So who do you want, Harry? Your Vegas real estate lawyer?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 9:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Could make for an interesting confirmation hearing, as Olson is a brilliant mind, and has the mark on him of losing his wife on 9/11. I'd like to see them shout down someone who's a DIRECT victim of the jihadis.
Posted by: BA || 09/13/2007 9:49 Comments || Top||

#9  BA is right.

Forget for the moment Ted Olson is an outstanding contitutional lawyer. Olson was a direct victim of the muslims on 9-11.

The story goes that his wife, Barb, was suppose to leave town on a plane on 9-10. But because Ted's birthday was on Sept. 11th, she decided to change her flight and spend the night with him so she could "wish him a happy birthday in the early morning hours" of Sept. 11th.

Further, the story is that Barb was on the phone with Ted explaining to him the circumstances of her flight. At the time Ted already knew of the two planes flown into the Twin Towers. He passed that info onto Barb.

As the story goes, un;ess I'm mistaken, Barb was on the phonme with Ted when her plane slammed into the Pentagon.

So yeah, Harry Reid...object to the appointment of Ted Olson. I mean, why give a pass to an acknowledged constitutional law expert who has a vivid recollection of the morning of 9-11 and what same portends for the future of the USA?

Spit.
Posted by: Mark Z || 09/13/2007 10:54 Comments || Top||

#10  Harry Reid is a partisan hack. Not wanting anyone who doesn't bow to his will.
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/13/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#11  Appoint him as temporary or interim attorney general, which presumes a continued search for someone permanent. I can't imagine that what's formally a place holder needs to be formally approved by Congress. What say Rantburg's experts on such things?
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/13/2007 12:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Usually, at that level, TW, there will be someone chosen (within the Agency/Dept.) that will be an "Acting" Attorney General, until someone is appointed permanently, or Bush uses a Recess Appointment. It is usually the "Deputy" AG, or whatever #2 in charge's title is.
Posted by: BA || 09/13/2007 13:31 Comments || Top||

#13  General Theodore Olson is a decent human being.
He and his beautiful late wife are what America is about. Nothing but Class and Character.

I would take pleasure in "I can't print the remark"...

We'd have a new Senate Majority Leader anyway...
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/13/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||

#14  "the last thing we need as an attorney general is a partisan," Reid told Reuters, (unless he's a Dumbascrap partisan.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/13/2007 17:50 Comments || Top||

#15  Olson is brilliant and he is anything but a partisan hack. He would be a great choice by Bush. The real reason the Dems don't want Olson as AG has nothing to do with qualifications. If Bush wants him, then they are against him. It's as simple as that.
Posted by: Hank || 09/13/2007 18:04 Comments || Top||

#16  The crew discussed this tonight on Fox News (Brit Hume's show). I had forgotten that he was the President's personal Attorney in Bush v. Gore (2000 election). Not to mention, just before she perished at the Pentagon, Barbara had written a scathing book on Hillary.

It's no wonder they hate him so much.
Posted by: BA || 09/13/2007 20:24 Comments || Top||

#17  Fuck Harry and ALL the RINOs who cower ever time he opens his pie hole. It seems lately that ever time Nancy or Harry spew certain RINOs run and hide lest they have to "Fight" for something. It looks like the Republicans are practicing the "Domestic Surrender Policy". Olson is more than qualified and gfiven that he lost a wife on 9/11 it I can't think of a better AG in time of war.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 09/13/2007 20:57 Comments || Top||


'08 hopefuls net millions from piggy banks
At 8 years old, Matthew Mardirossian is too young to vote. But he and his 7-year-old sister, Karis, each contributed $4,600 to help Democrat Barack Obama win the White House. In Arizona, 15-year-old actor Hunter Gomez gave $2,300 to Republican John McCain, his home state senator.

Under federal rules, minors can make political donations — as long as it's their money and decision to contribute. Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, said it's a way people "use their family members to circumvent the limits on individual contributions," which is $2,300 each for the primary and general elections. "Chances are slim that a 6- or 7-year-old would knowingly give their money to a candidate. They would prefer to spend their money on G.I. Joes or Barbie dolls," said Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center.

Aris Mardirossian said his children's donations came from their trust fund, controlled by lawyers and accountants. "It is their money, and the trustee makes the decisions on their behalf," he said. Mardirossian and his wife gave $4,600 apiece to Obama. The real estate developer estimates his extended family has donated about $50,000 to the Illinois senator. Spokesman Bill Burton said Obama returned the money from the Mardirossian children Monday — the same day USA TODAY asked about the donations.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey, kid. Ya like that free luch you get everyday?
You want to keep the Republicans out of the White House so they don't steal it? How much milk money ya got? Let's go...cough it up. It's for the children, ya little bastid...
Posted by: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton || 09/13/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'Cousin marriage should be discouraged'
Population Welfare Minister Naseem Lodhi said on Wednesday that people should discourage cousin marriage in the best interest of the country.

She said 70 percent of marriages were taking place among relatives in Pakistan which was increasing disability among children.
Talking to a women delegation at her office, she said the early marriage was one of the causes of rapidly growing population. She said it was estimated that 22 percent girls were getting married at an early age and that every sixth girl was given in marriage at the age of 15 having longer childbearing period. She said 70 percent marriages were taking place among relatives in Pakistan which was adversely affecting child and mother’s health and was also increasing disability among children.

The minister said Pakistan’s growth rate was very high and that it was everyone’s responsibility to keep the population growth rate at a reasonable level.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shhh!
Posted by: gorb || 09/13/2007 3:09 Comments || Top||

#2  F*cking savages.
Posted by: jds || 09/13/2007 9:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Inbreeding has caused widespread devastation in our own country by increasing the number of democrats to dangerous levels.
Posted by: Iblis || 09/13/2007 12:15 Comments || Top||

#4  IBM = In Bred Muzzies
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 09/13/2007 12:35 Comments || Top||

#5  If one looks at the ranks of thuggish jihadists it would seem the problems of inbreading are already well developed.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/13/2007 14:08 Comments || Top||

#6  This line of reasoning ain't gonna go over well in Appalachia.......
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/13/2007 14:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Southern joke punchline...

"If she aint good enough fer her own family she aint good enough fer ours."
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/13/2007 14:45 Comments || Top||

#8  They gonna outlaw banjos too...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 20:55 Comments || Top||


Pakistan 115th most peaceful country
Pakistan is at the 115th spot in the list of peaceful countries of the world. The list has 121 entries, Dr Mubashir Hassan, former finance minister and human rights’ activist, told a seminar, Play for Peace, on Wednesday.
"Chaudry, be a good chap and bring 'round the water cannon. Also several hundred rounds of rubber bullet, the riot shields, and the crime scene tape. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Pakistan is at the 115th spot in the list of peaceful countries of the world. The list has 121 entries.
The seminar was held at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) auditorium and organised by Vattar Media in collaboration with the Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD). The seminar aimed at promoting peace through sports. Dr Mubashir told a large number of female students who participated in the seminar that several indicators, including confrontation and wars, were considered before declaring a country ‘peace-loving’. He said the indicators also included the citizens’ trust in the government, internal security, incidents of victimization, respect of human rights, terrorism, stability of the political system, relations with neighbouring countries, the system of governance, freedom of movement and speech, freedom of the media and politics and the ratio of corruption.
I'm trying to figure which countries are worse.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  115 Pakistan
116 Colombia
117 Nigeria
118 Russia
119 Israel
120 Sudan
121 Iraq

Ah, it all makes sense now. The Global Peace Index ranks the US at #96, right between Yemen and Iran. LOL.
Posted by: exJAG || 09/13/2007 6:19 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd guess "Israel" includes Paleostain.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd say it's surprising they admit Israel is a sovereign country. Most of these a-holes would list "Occupied Palestine"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/13/2007 8:46 Comments || Top||

#4  The Index has already won the support of an influential and distinguished group of supporters, many of whom are dedicated to promoting global peace, including former U.S. President James Carter, the Dalai Lama,Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Richard Branson and Harriet Fulbright of the Fulbright Centre.

So it's as good as gold, I tells ya! Good as gold...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

#5  What can I say? I have lust in my heart.
Posted by: Jimmy Carter || 09/13/2007 11:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Lower than Congo? Somalia?
Posted by: ed || 09/13/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#7  of course, Norway is #1
Posted by: Skunky Elmavise4463 || 09/13/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||

#8  These countries rating more civil and peaceful than America... BS!

21 Spain BULL SHIT
22 Oman BULL SHIT
37 Malaysia BULL SHIT
40 Ghana BULL SHIT
41 Madagascar BULL SHIT
42 Botswana BULL SHIT
45 Panama BULL SHIT
46 Kuwait BULL SHIT
48 Morocco BULL SHIT
50 Mozambique BULL SHIT
53 Zambia BULL SHIT
56 Gabon BULL SHIT
57 Tanzania BULL SHIT
58 Libya BULL SHIT
59 Cuba BULL SHIT
60 China BULL SHIT
63 Jordan BULL SHIT
64 Namibia BULL SHIT
65 Senegal BULL SHIT
66 Nicaragua BULL SHIT
67 Croatia BULL SHIT
68 Malawi BULL SHIT
69 Bolivia BULL SHIT
70 Peru BULL SHIT
71 Guinea BULL SHIT
72 Moldova BULL SHIT
73 Egypt BULL SHIT
74 Dom Rep BULL SHIT
75 Bos Herz BULL SHIT
76 Cameroon BULL SHIT
77 Syria BULL SHIT
78 Indonesia BULL SHIT
79 Mexico BULL SHIT
81 Jamaica BULL SHIT
83 Brazil BULL SHIT
84 Serbia BULL SHIT
85 Cambodia BULL SHIT
86 Bangladesh BULL SHIT
89 El Salvador BULL SHIT
90 Saudi Arabia BULL SHIT
91 Kenya BULL SHIT
92 Turkey BULL SHIT
93 Guatemala BULL SHIT
95 Yemen BULL SHIT


96 The United f'n States OF F'N America!! and don't you fucking forget it you commie Rat Bastids!

And a Big Big BULL SHIT to Jimmuh Carter and First Global Peace Index! fuck you and the one goat ya'all rode in on!

/F word Thursday





Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/13/2007 23:24 Comments || Top||


India opens Siachen to trekkers
NEW DELHI: In a clear signal to Pakistan that the Siachen Glacier-Saltoro Ridge region will remain "non-negotiable" till it accepts Indian conditions, India is now actively encouraging mountaineering and trekking expeditions to the forbidding glacial heights.

The expeditions are also meant to show to the international audience that Indian troops hold "almost all dominating heights" on Saltoro Ridge, which is the highest watershed in the area and towers along the western edge of the glacier. And, of course, that Pakistani troops are nowhere near the 72-km-long Siachen Glacier.

Sources said a 16-member Indo-French expedition to Mamostong Kangri peak, located about 30-km east of the snout of Siachen Glacier, took place between July 30 and September 1. A 33-member Army expedition is currently underway to the same area.

Another Indian Mountaineering Federation expedition to Rimo Peak, which is located east of Siachen and overlooks Aksai Chin, was launched on September 6, with six civilians and four Army soldiers. Interestingly, it was Pakistan’s grant of permit to a Japanese expedition to climb Rimo Peak in 1984, in the hope of laying a legal claim to the area, which had acted as the final provocation for India to airlift troops to the region.

The Indian troops had occupied Saltoro Ridge heights, ranging from 16,000-feet to 22,000-feet, against daunting odds under 'Operation Meghdhoot' in April 1984, beating Pakistani troops from doing the same by just a whisker.

Apart from the expeditions, the Army is now also going to organise "trekking trips" as a "civilian adventure activity" to the world’s highest, coldest and costliest battlefield since it no longer witnesses fierce artillery duels due to the ongoing Indo-Pak ceasefire.

A group of 20, including eight to nine civilians and cadets from NCC, Rashtriya Indian Military College and Indian Military Academy, will be part of the first such trekking trip from September 19. "The group will acclimatise and train at Leh for 10 days before they are sent to the Siachen base camp for further training. Thereafter, they will trek, through heights varying between 14,000-feet and 16,000-feet, to reach the forward Kumar Post," said an officer.

This frenzy of activity at the glacial heights comes at a time when 11 rounds of Indo-Pak defence secretary-level talks, the last held in April, as well as back-channel contacts have failed to achieve a major breakthrough in the Siachen dispute. Defence minister A K Antony has made it clear Pakistan will have to "authenticate" the relative troop positions — both on the map and on the ground — along the 110-km Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) before any forward movement can take place.

The AGPL stretches beyond the NJ-9842 grid reference point, where the well-delineated Line of Control simply stopped dead in the 1972 Shimla Pact, right till the Karakoram Pass.

With the trust deficit with Pakistan yet to be bridged, India wants the AGPL to be "authenticated" first as an international safeguard before any troop disengagement, withdrawal and the final demilitarisation of the glacier.

Pakistan, on its part, has shown some willingness for this in recent times but is yet to fully meet India’s demand. India, of course, is in no particular hurry to vacate the heights since it has stopped "bleeding" like before due to better infrastructure and facilities in place there.
Posted by: john frum || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh, I thought you meant people who spoke Klingon and had ear prostheses.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 09/13/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Just don't wear a red shirt while visiting!
Posted by: bruce || 09/13/2007 13:19 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas releases 84 prisoners for Ramadan
GAZA CITY - The Hamas movement announced on Wednesday the release of 84 prisoners in the Islamists-controlled Gaza Strip on the eve of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The director of Gaza’s central prison, Ali Hamid, said at a press conference that the 84 prisoners had been sentenced over criminal and security-related charges as well as disturbing public order.
Private Shalit was not among them.
After the release, some 270 people would remain held in the central prison, he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great...out of jail and into Gaza.
Great.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/13/2007 13:21 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Shaky Myanmar junta demonstrates fealty to Buddhism
Myanmar’s military government, widely condemned for its heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protests by Buddhist monks, has been making high-profile donations to monasteries, the state-controlled press reported Wednesday.

The junta’s top officials in the central area around the city of Mandalay donated cooking oil to 102 monasteries, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on its front page, showing photos of kneeling officials offering gifts to senior monks. Making donations to temples is a traditional way of showing respect and making merit.

The move follows a security clampdown on monasteries in an attempt to keep young monks from joining weeks of protests that began Aug 19 over high prices for fuel and consumer goods. The protests are the most sustained challenge in a decade to the government. More than 100 people have been detained for taking part in demonstrations, many of which have been broken up by pro-government toughs.

In northern Myanmar last week, monks - angry at being beaten up for protesting economic conditions - temporarily took officials hostage and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters. A nervous government responded by tightening security around monasteries in major cities, including Yangon, Mandalay and Bago.

Monks in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have historically been at the forefront of protests - first against British colonialism and later military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed 1988 pro-democracy rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962. The uprising was brutally crushed by the military.

According to unconfirmed reports circulated in the Myanmar exile opposition press, monks have said they may refuse alms from the military and ignore junta officials and their supporters at official functions if the government fails to apologize by next week for the mistreatment of monks during a protest last week in the northern town of Pakokku.
Posted by: Fred || 09/13/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2007-09-13
  Pakistan 115th most peaceful country
Wed 2007-09-12
  Suicide bomber kills 16 in Pakistan
Tue 2007-09-11
  Six Years: Never forgive, never forget, never "understand"!
Mon 2007-09-10
  Petraeus reports
Sun 2007-09-09
  Germans hunt 49 in 'Fritz the Taliban' terror plot
Sat 2007-09-08
  Binny: "Convert or die, infidels!"
Fri 2007-09-07
  Tarzan Dogmush murdered
Thu 2007-09-06
  Germany foils massive terrorist campaign
Wed 2007-09-05
  Bomb blasts kill 25 in Rawalpindi cantonment
Tue 2007-09-04
  Danish police arrest 8 in terror plot
Mon 2007-09-03
  Afghans bang 120 resurgent Talibs
Sun 2007-09-02
  Nahr al-Bared falls to Lebanon army
Sat 2007-09-01
  Knobby gives up veto in return for consensus on new president
Fri 2007-08-31
  Liverlips plans to form a puppet government in Lebanon
Thu 2007-08-30
  Mullah Brother is no more


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