Commanders Tell Gates Iraq Policy Working, Urge Vigilance

[there...]
BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Field commanders deployed throughout Iraq gathered here today to tell Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates firsthand that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is working and to urge vigilance in seeing it through.
[snip]
But asked if there was one central message the commanders delivered, Simock said they’re confident the strategy in Iraq is showing results and don’t want to give up too soon.

“We’re winning; there is no doubt,” Simcock said. “I wanted to make sure we are winning here on the ground. Now we need to stay and finish the job. It ain’t done yet.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48329

Defense Department Notifies Congress of Furlough Moves

[here...]
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2007 – The Defense Department has officially notified Congress that the department will begin the furlough process for civilian employees of the Army, the Marine Corps and the combatant commands.
[snip]
“Without GWOT funding, only operations and maintenance funds in the base budget are available to cover war-related costs,” England said in the letter. “O&M funds also cover salary costs for a large number of Army and Marine Corps civilian employees.”
[snip]
England reminded legislators of a letter he sent Nov. 8 to explain what would happen without supplemental war funding. “I emphasized that without this critical funding, the department would have no choice but to deplete key appropriations accounts in order to sustain essential military operations around the world."
[snip]
“The furlough will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities,” England wrote. “More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our warfighters -- support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq"

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48387

Children used as shields in Pakistan mosque

[there]
Islamabad - - Women and children were being used as human shields by militants besieged in a mosque in Islamabad, the Pakistan government said on Thursday as security forces ratcheted up pressure on hundreds inside to surrender. Pakistan's Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said the few students who had quit the mosque spoke of a nightmare scenario for security forces trying to keep casualties down.

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Children_used_as_shields_in_Pakistan_mosque.html?siteSect=143&sid=7989851&cKey=1183646303000

Police action over TV film 'undermined free speech'

[{near} here...]
Police claimed that the Dispatches programme Undercover Mosque misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics through misleading editing. The programme featured undercover recordings from speakers alleged to be homophobic, antiSemitic, sexist and condemnatory of nonMuslims.

West Midlands Police rejected calls to take action against the preachers for hate speach - instead, they pursued a complaint against the film-makers, accusing them of undermining community relations.

But Ofcom, the media watchdog, threw out the police complaints. It found that the programme had “accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context”.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2902254.ece

Kasparov quits presidential race

The Russian opposition figure and former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, will no longer contest the presidential election next March. Mr Kasparov said his Other Russia bloc had faced difficulty arranging for its supporters to meet in Moscow - an official requirement for his candidacy. (Snip) Under Russian election law, presidential contenders who are not affiliated to one of four major parties must provide the details of two million supporters across the country.

[Oh, and are allowed zero air time on the state run television. The thing is rigged from front to back - all it needs now is Jimmy Carter...]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7140946.stm

'Changing border will be dangerous'

The defense establishment is fiercely opposed to a United Nations initiative to redraw Israel's border with Lebanon and ultimately revoke Israeli sovereignty over the Shaba Farms. A UN cartographer is expected to visit the Shaba Farms, also known as Mount Dov, in the coming weeks, sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to review the current border route along the 25-square-kilometer area located between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

[betrayed again: it's elevated land, previously used to shell Israel]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

WaPo Ignores Republican Criticism of Lack of Drilling in Energy Bill

Washington Post staffers Jonathan Weisman and Steven Mufson gaver readers of the December 7 paper an article on a "comprehensive [?] energy bill" that passed the House of Representatives without delving into Republican criticism that the bill lacks any provision to produce or procure more energy domestically, such as from interior and off-shore natural gas and oil reserves.

In the Washington Post front pager, not once do the words "drilling" or "natural gas" occur.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2007/12/07/wapo-ignores-republican-criticism-lack-drilling-energy-bill

Tougher UK visa laws to curb illegal immigration

Britain is planning tougher visa controls, in an effort to tackle illegal immigration. Tourists from outside the EU currently get six- month visas. That will be cut to three months, and there may be a financial imposition as well. The proposals were unveiled by the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne:

"This is just part of a general tightening up of the system and it's part of a sweeping set of changes that we will be making to Britain's border security over the next 12 months."

Every person coming into Britain would have to pay a thousand pounds; families whose relatives outstay their visa risk losing the money.

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=460129&lng=1

Mexico's President Calderon insults the United States

Mexico's President Calderon has delivered a slap in the face to the United States, and provided what amounts to an endorsement for his citizens violating the laws of the United States. Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light caught the significance of an official photo appearing on Mexico's Presidencia website, showing El Presidente meeting with Elvira Arellano, who illegally entered our country and who illegally used a fake social security number.

There can be no denying that this is a high honor for the citizen of any country. To confer such a distinction on someone who very publicly flouted the laws of a neighbor implies official endorsement of lawlessness. Steve asks the important question of how Mexico would regard a neighboring nation encouraging its citizens to flout Mexico's laws, such as its strict immigration laws.

This is not the behavior of an amigo.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/08/mexicos_president_calderon_ins.html

All I Want for Christmas Is Reporting on Al Sharpton's FBI Probe

Imagine for a moment that the FBI raided televangelist Pat Robertson's office for any reason whatsoever, much less say his 1988 presidential campaign. It'd be a story in the broadcast evening news programs, right?

So why the utter lack of interest in the December 12 federal probe into Al Sharpton's 2004 campaign? A review of Nexis for ABC, NBC, and CBS network news stories for December 12-18 yielded NOTHING on a December 13 FBI raid.

Here's an excerpt from the AP's reporting from December 13:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316660,00.html

Watching a Treasury Wreck...

California
According to news reports yesterday, behind closed doors the Department of Finance is privately admitting to a $14 billion shortfall between this and the next budget year. Assuming that this shortfall occurs AFTER blowing through the $4 billion reserve, that makes the actual operating deficit $18 billion.

The problem is not a revenue shortfall. The problem is that spending has increased 33 percent.

That’s how you wreck a state’s finances. It works every time.

[yet we keep returning the some bunch to Sacramento, year after year]

http://www.carepublic.com/blog.html?blog_id=210&frompage=latestblog&domain=tom_mcclintock

Women Attracted to Men in Sports Cars Cause Global Warming

As reported by the British Telegraph Monday (emphasis added throughout):

Women must stop admiring men who drive sports cars if they want to join the fight against global warming, the Government's chief scientist has urged. And he singled out women who find supercar drivers "sexy", adding that they should divert their affections to men who live more environmentally-friendly lives.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/16/ncar116.xml