Baghdad-Area Surge Operations Garner More Success

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2007 – Ongoing U.S. military efforts to disrupt insurgent operations in and around Baghdad are garnering continued success, a senior military officer posted in Iraq said today. “It is just evident that the surge was the right thing to do,” Grigsby said. Overall attacks in Baghdad have decreased dramatically since the surge took hold, he said.

“We are continuing to kick the insurgents’ butt each day,” Grigsby said.

Related operations to date have resulted in the killing of 128 insurgents and the capture of almost 500 suspected extremists, Grigsby said, 25 of whom are considered to possess high informational value. The operations also disabled 119 roadside bombs and seized 43 weapons caches the colonel said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48410

Active, Reserve Components Meet November Recruiting Goals

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2007 – All military components met their recruiting goals in November, Defense Department officials said here yesterday. It was the sixth month in a row that all services made their recruiting goals, officials said.
[snip]
On the active-duty side, the Marine Corps made 108 percent of its recruiting goal, accessing 2,444 recruits against a goal of 2,263. [] The Navy made 100 percent of its goal of 2,732 recruits, and the Air Force met its goal of 1,836. [] The Air National Guard and Army National Guard easily made their November goals at 133 percent and 116 percent, respectively. [] The Air Force Reserve made 100 percent of its enlistment quota of 558; the Navy Reserve made 100 percent of its goal of 895; and the Marine Corps Reserve made its goal of 572.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48381

The War on Zionism

Post Annapolis, the Palestinian Authority made it crystal clear that it will never recognize Israel as a "Jewish state". Furthermore, it made it crystal clear that it will not compromise on Jerusalem by making it a capital offense to do so. Yet negotiations continue. [?] Either Olmert doesn't believe the PA or what is more likely, he will still cut a deal where Israel is denied that recognition and will divide Jerusalem according to Arab demands.

Do not think for a moment that these entrenched Arab positions are negotiable. They aren't and never have been...

[i.e., any plan for peace requires parties - plural - who desire it]

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3900&cid=2&sid=1

UN Moving to Derail Fraud Investigations

The UN bureaucracy has once again acted to insulate itself from punishment for engaging in fraud that has cost the UN (and America, since America by far is the largest contributor to the United Nations) hundreds of millions of dollars. .
[snip]
The General Assembly is preparing to put an early end to an in-house panel that has exposed more than $600 million in tainted United Nations contracts and is currently investigating an additional $1 billion in suspect agreements.

The effort to scuttle the panel is not a budget matter so much as a political one, and it represents the continuing suspicion developing countries have about international intervention in their affairs.
[snip]
In its effort to curtail the task force’s work, Singapore succeeded in winning over the powerful Group of 77, an assemblage representing the developing world that has grown over the years to 130 nations. [each of which get as influential a vote in the general assembly as any nation, regardless of size or contribution to the UN's budget - and as a block of 130, they're nigh unstoppable.]

"The investigations will obviously cease,” Mr. Appleton said Thursday, noting that the United Nations currently had no other unit “to address these matters.”

[The organization is UNsalvageable]
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/world/asia/21nations.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Senate Report: Over 400 Scientists Dispute Manmade Global Warming

According to a report just published at the United States Senate Committee on Environment, over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC.
[snip]
Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking." Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears "bite the dust." (LINK)
[snip]
This report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.

Though lengthy, readers are strongly encouraged to review this entire document to learn the truth about what real scientists - those not receiving Oscars, Emmys, and Nobel Peace Prizes [or grants]- think about this controversial issue.

[reminder: alarmists are in a hurry to get their laws on the books because time will increasingly prove prior predictions and scientific methods false - hence they're becoming shriller and shriller in demanding legislation now-right-now, for as we all know, a law that brings the government money and power once enacted is forever...]

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

ABC Does Three Consecutive Nights of Socialized Medicine

"Critical condition" in medical terminology means a patient has a high risk of death that could occur within the next 24 hours. So when you see "Critical Condition: Rx For America," sounds like something is in really bad shape, right?

No, it was just a promotional three-night series on ABC "World News with Charles Gibson" that ran from December 10-12 about health care. By the third night, Charles Gibson was even calling one example of socialized medicine a "system that works."

[what bias?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2007/12/13/abc-does-three-consecutive-nights-socialized-medicine

Immigration

[there...]
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


[here...]
ACLU's War On U.S. Immigration Law
Prof. Nicholas Stix

While President George W. Bush, ICE, and Congress act as if the U.S. had no immigration laws and no borders, some heroic local officials and private organizations have nevertheless sought, against all odds, to enforce and uphold immigration law. And every time they have done so, the ACLU has been there to fight them, on behalf of those who are flouting our laws.

A study of the tactics of local ACLU chapters across the country and the national ACLU reveals a distinct, coordinated strategy of six components [...]

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3856&cid=1&sid=26

The Media: Bad Intelligence with No Confidence

[snip]
The media dangerously ignore the rest of the report, which indicates that Iran remains in the process of doing everything required to develop every aspect of their nuclear program save weapons, to which they can return on a dime whenever they wish. The MSM also disregard the July 2007 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee of Thomas Fingar, one of the co-authors of the latest NIE, which was wholly contradictory of the new downgraded danger assessment.

"Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution.

"We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons--despite its international obligations and international pressure. This is a grave concern to the other countries in the region whose security would be threatened should Iran acquire nuclear weapons."

This is all extraordinarily perilous. The world is not a sandbox in which all the little children play nicely, save for the American bully. The naïve notion the media broadcast that we could all just get along were it not for us throwing our weight around is a stone around our necks that hinders our ascendance both here and abroad.

As exhibited last week, when their righteous preening led to Bush-as-Pinocchio headlines in Tehran and smiles all around from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad and his Mullah bosses.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2007/12/05/media-very-selective-when-they-choose-believe-nie

Consumer spending explodes in November...

Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in November by the most in more than two years as incomes grew and shoppers took advantage of early holiday discounts. A bigger-than-forecast 1.1 percent increase in purchases followed a revised 0.4 percent gain in October that was more than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aISUBxdFxvBo&refer=news

Hmmm. Incomes up. Spending up. Where's that bleeping recession we keep hearing about?

[Answer: on TV... > ]


Investment Firm CEO: If We Have a Recession, Media Will Cause It

Craig Hester, CEO of Hester Capital Management, who during an interview with CNBC's Erin Burnett and James Cramer Friday spoke an inconvenient truth about media's impact on the economy that folks in the press sadly don't recognize as they disseminate pessimistic after pessimistic predictions often leading to people unnecessarily losing their jobs - or worse:

That's one thing about the economy, Jim. There's a lot of pessimism, and I think we're going to, through the media, if we're going to have a recession, it's going to be media generated as opposed from the economy. Things look very strong from what I can tell.

Thanks, Craig. We couldn't have said it any better.

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2007/20071128154245.aspx

USA Today Finds Dem-GOP Approval Margin Too Close; Finds 'Better' Data Elsewhere

Monday's USA Today piece by Richard Wolf on congressional and presidential approval ratings had this odd segue:

Although just 30% of those polled give Democrats in Congress good marks, they favor the party by a 53%-40% margin in next year’s elections. That represents a silver lining for Democrats, who achieved only a fraction of their ambitious agenda after taking over Congress.

It’s odd because Wolf doesn't indicate how many of those polled gave Republicans in Congress good marks. It's even odder that the 53%-40% election margin Wolf cited is nowhere to be found in the survey detail. Also, neither the article nor the survey detail have an external link to information relevant to this margin.

http://www.bizzyblog.com/2007/12/20/couldnt-help-but-notice-122007/