Afghan, U.S. Troops Deliver Aid to Villagers

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 26, 2007 – Afghan national security forces, assisted by coalition forces, delivered tons of humanitarian assistance to hundreds of villagers in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
[snip]
“The villagers were very happy to receive the much-needed items. The goods will help villagers endure the onset of freezing winter temperatures. The people of Sra Kala and Shbal recognize that the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan truly cares for the general welfare of the population,”
[snip]
The provincial subgovernor responsible for the districts asked for help after hearing from area chiefs and village elders. The humanitarian aid also served as a way to reward villagers who have ensured the relative safety of the districts by making the area inhospitable to insurgents.

Petraeus Letter to the Troops

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq: As 2007 draws to a close, you should look back with pride on what you, your fellow troopers, our Iraqi partners, and Iraqi Coalition civilians have achieved in 2007.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/535mehzn.asp

Democrats: Redeploy troops from Iraq

The United States should redeploy troops from Iraq, New York Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand said Saturday.

"Congress is challenging the administration's strategy in Iraq in favor of a better one that will effectively combat terrorism and create stability in the Middle East,"

she said during the weekly Democratic radio address.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071229/ap_on_go_co/democrats_troops

US report: Israel nuclear war with Iran

All out nuclear war between Israel and Iran: a doomsday scenario that we all fear deeply. A new study compiled by the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), headed by former Pentagon analyst Anthony H. Cordesman, explored just such a nightmare scenario, noting that it could lead to the death of between 16- 28 million Iranian civilians, and 200-800 thousand Israelis.
[snip]
One essential requirement for nuclear confrontation in our region, according to the study, is allowing Iran’s nuclear program to develop, unhindered by a pre-emptive strike by either Israel or the United States. If US or Israeli preemption does not occur, the study found, Iran could very well have 30 nuclear warheads available for warfare between 2010-2020.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3486011,00.html

Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford

Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who expressed their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.
[snip]
Dr Mark Huckster, who lives in Stanton Road and works at East Oxford hospice Helen House, told the Oxford Mail: "The proposal to issue a prayer call is very un-neighborly, especially in a crowded urban space such as Oxford.

[ah, the joys of all-beliefs-are-equal 'multiculturalism']

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=504373&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

There v Here...

France to cut Syria ties over Lebanon presidential crisis
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday he had instructed his staff to suspend diplomatic contacts with Syria until Paris has proof that Damascus is working for a consensus president in Lebanon. Speaking in Egypt after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sarkozy said the time had come for deeds rather than words from Syria.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=939786&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1
[vs]
Specter, Patrick Kennedy visit Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria - There is "a real opportunity" for Syria and Israel to resume peace talks with help from the United States, Sen. Arlen Specter said Saturday after arriving for a two-day visit. Specter said he hoped Syria's participation in last month's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., was a step toward "a new beginning for real efforts" to reach a Mideast peace, including between Syria and Israel.
[the useful idiots show hits the road once again...]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/syria_israel_us

The more things change...

Chavez vows to put
''revolution'' back on track
Caracas - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez promised on Saturday to tackle poor garbage collection and high crime in a bid to win back support for his socialist ''revolution,'' which was hurt in a poll defeat a few weeks ago. Seemingly taking on board common criticism of his performance, Chavez said it was unacceptable that garbage was piling up uncollected in some parts of capital city Caracas, and acknowledged people were worried about crime.
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/news/international/Chavez_vows_to_put_revolution_back_on_track.html?siteSect=143&sid=8578578&cKey=1198981351000&ty=ti

Hollywood's new favorite dictator
Hugo Chavez, the oil-powered Castro wannabe of Venezuela, has picked up a few fans in Hollywood, despite the Venezuelan public's rejection of his plan to be dictator-for-life by a large enough margin that he couldn't steal the election, and despite (or in some cases because of) his cozying up to the regime of the mad mullahs. His willingness to finance movies with the Venezuelan treasury might just have something to do with it.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/12/hollywoods_new_favorite_dictat.html

The hot air cult

[you want to talk about special interest money?]

One of the traits of a cult is its refusal to consider any evidence that might disprove the faith. So it is doubtful the global warming cultists will be moved by 400 scientists, many of whom are current or former members of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Gore, for publicizing doubt on a "scientific consensus" that human-caused global warming endangers the planet.
[snip]
Like most cultists, the true believers struck back, not by debating science, but by charging that a small number of the scientists mentioned in the report have taken money from the oil industry. A spokeswoman for Al Gore said 25 or 30 of the [400] scientists may have received funding from Exxon Mobile Corp. Exxon Mobile spokesman Gantt H. Walton dismissed the claim, saying, "The company is concerned about climate-change issues and does not pay scientists to bash global-warming theories."
[snip]
The pro-global warming cultists enjoy a huge money advantage. Paleoclimate scientist Bob Carter, who has testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, noted in an EPW report how much money has been spent researching and promoting climate fears and so-called solutions: "In one of the more expensive ironies of history, the expenditure of more than $50 BILLION on research into global warming since 1990 has failed to demonstrate any human-caused climate trend, let alone a dangerous one," he wrote on June 18, 2007.

The $19 million spent on research that debunks the global warming faith pales in comparison.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/COMMENTARY09/245075897

Fence fiasco: Or Feliz ano nuevo

The decline of American sovereignty would typically be a big story in any year, but with all the news coming out of Hollywood this year, maybe it was a bit overshadowed by more significant events.
[snip]
Most recently, we learned that Congress — that hallmark of American integrity — had pulled a fast one on the voting public by undermining the border fence which it had so ostentatiously supported before the 2006 midterm elections.
[snip]
“Nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location.”
[snip]
In other words, it leaves total discretion for whether to build the fence or not to the administration that opposed the fence in the first place. Way to go, Congress, and feliz ano nuevo.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2007/12/30/columns/columns01.txt

House GOP to fight Democratic 'war' on jobs

Democratic proposals for higher taxes and policies that favor unions and lawyers over businesses threaten to kill jobs and reduce disposable income for middle-class families, according to a report by House Republicans. The report, titled ''Death by a Thousand Cuts: Democrats' War on American Jobs,'' cites policies that expand government and boost taxes, open doors for more lawsuits against employers and increase regulation on large and small businesses.

[catchy title, big politicos involved - expect a 60 Minutes special on this any day now...]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/NATION/376664386/-1/RSS_NATION_POLITICS

NHS patients wait years for hearing aids

Patients across the country are waiting more than two years for a hearing aid, and up to five years to have old-fashioned equipment replaced by modern technology. Almost 50,000 people, many of them elderly, are stuck on NHS waiting lists and 10 primary care trusts have admitted to delays of more than a year for patients in need of their first hearing aid.
[government run health 'care']
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/30/nhear130.xml

Media Military Matters

THE story of 2007.

There should be no question what the top story of the year was: America’s counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq, a political party's hapless efforts to sabotage it, and the Western mainstream media’s stubborn refusal to own up to military progress.

We rang in 2007 with vehement liberal opposition to the “surge” of 21,000 added U.S. troops and tactical changes to secure Baghdad. In the ensuing 12 months, Democrats tried and failed repeatedly to undermine this military strategy and starve the war of funding. Their poisonously partisan allies at MoveOn.org attempted to smear surge architect and patriot Gen. David Petraeus as a traitor. The New York Times and Associated Press fought tooth and nail to obscure the successes of the surge with their relentless “grim milestone” drumbeat. But by year’s end, with Shiites and Sunnis marching and praying together for peace, even anti-war Democrats and adversarial media outlets alike were forced to acknowledge that undeniable military progress and security improvements had been made.

Is there still a long way to go? Hell, yes. Were there other ancillary factors that contributed to the decrease in violence and the “awakenings” in Anbar province and Baghdad? Yes again. But go back to January. Refresh your memories of the anti-surge rhetoric and the spectacularly misguided conventional wisdom...

[i.e., remember this, for utter failure has never dented their ideology one iota: they will try again...]

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzQ1MDM4MDU1OWZlNGViNmFjNzRjZTkzNzQzYWQ2MzY=