Wounded Soldiers See the Pentagon In Private Parade

WASHINGTON - Cpl. Kenny Lyon's mother pushed his wheelchair down a narrow Pentagon hallway, crying as she listened to the applause. Hundreds of Defense Department employees lined the corridor, cheering for Cpl. Lyon and the other wounded military personnel who walked or rolled past. (Snip)

"I was really humbled by it because I didn't do anything special," says Cpl. Lyon, a 22-year-old Marine who lost a leg in a mortar attack near Fallujah. "I went to Iraq to do a job, and I got injured and actually couldn't do it. So why was I getting honored?"

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The West is Winning in Iraq

[HT:DH]

As the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, the United States has proved her critics wrong -- again. The U.S.-led surge in Iraq has been a remarkable success, and the fledgling democracy is no longer descending into civil war. The ballot box and the rule of law are rapidly replacing terror, fear and intimidation as the norm.

The surge campaign has demonstrated that the United States is capable today of fighting and winning a protracted counter-insurgency war against well-armed and highly trained militia groups thousands of miles away in the Middle East. The figure leading the operation, General David H. Petraeus, is a true hero -- a remarkable military commander who defied the odds to deliver results in the face of a brutal, sophisticated and multifaceted enemy. [just about the time Time magazine was proclaiming Putin man of the year]

Al-Qaeda remains though a potent threat in Iraq, and there can be no room for complacency... Ultimately, Iraq is a microcosm of a larger war the West is waging against Islamist terrorism and extremism. The battles on the streets of Iraq have a direct relevance to the national security of the United States and its allies, and to walk away from this frontline of the war against Islamist terrorism would significantly increase the terror threat to the West itself. It is a long-term conflict that must be fought to ensure the security of the free world. America’s recent success in Iraq demonstrates that this is a war that can and must be won.

['winning' isn't won - but the trends are undeniable - would we really allow defeat-by-withdrawal now? {not rhetorical; you'll literally be voting on the answer in November]

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Two Americas

One is fighting a global war; one has better things to.

Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamist groups live in a shadow world where they plot to kill you and me. If we expect our intelligence professionals to prevent them from succeeding, we must give them the tools required to get the job done.

Last week, President Bush was presented with a bill that would have prohibited the CIA from utilizing such methods even in cases involving unlawful combatants believed to have knowledge of imminent terrorist attacks. Instead, the bill would have restricted the CIA to the mild interrogation methods authorized for soldiers in the U.S. Army Field Manual — a document terrorists can access, read, and utilize for training purposes...

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Iran continues to train killers for missions in Iraq

In his press briefing yesterday, Multi-National Force Iraq spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith made it very clear that Iran continues to train people for terrorist operations within Iraq.
[snip]

Those detainees, Iraqis, all speak the same story. They all tell exactly the same involvement of handlers here inside of Iraq that move them into Iran specifically for training, how they were trained inside of Iran by Lebanese Hezbollah and other trainers, the training that specific they received in paramilitary activities, and that they were sent back here purposely, purposefully to support anti-coalition, anti-security, and obviously anti-peace and stability of Iraq.

That's undeniable. Again, those aren't our assertions. Those are the exact facts associated with the Iraqis themselves who have provided that information to us. And sharing that with you, I think, is the most visible way of we have describing precisely what's happening inside of Iran. And we'll continue to do that and again in the weeks to come.

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Colombia calls for Chavez charges

[HT:NF]

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says he will ask the International Criminal Court to bring genocide charges against President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. He accused Mr Chavez of sponsoring and financing Colombian Farc rebels.

(Snip) ''Colombia proposes to denounce the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in the International Criminal Court for sponsoring and financing genocide,'' Mr Uribe said.

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Bush calls for Colombia trade accord

The Bush administration said Wednesday it will force a congressional vote on a Colombia free trade agreement this year, in effect launching a do-or-die effort to help the closest U.S. ally in Latin America and setting up a contentious debate smack in the middle of a presidential race. President Bush cast the trade agreement in urgent national security terms for the small nation...

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Time for U.S. to reject U.N.'s anti-democratic conference

If a group of despotic governments wants to organize a global mega-conference dedicated to fueling hatred of Jews, Israel and the United States, the United Nations might not be able to stop it. But surely the U.N. would at least refuse to organize, bankroll and host such an outrage?

Think again. The U.N. has done it before, in 2001, with a gathering in South Africa known as the Durban conference. (Snip) the "Death to Israel! Death to America" discourse waxed so virulent that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell ordered the U.S. delegation to
walk out.

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WHO'S FOOLING WHO?

The World Health Report 2000, prepared by the World Health Organization, presented performance rankings of 191 nations' health care systems. These rankings have been widely cited in public debates about health care, particularly by those interested in reforming the U.S. health care system to resemble more closely those of other countries, says Glen Whitman, an associate professor of economics at California State University, Northridge. For instance:

Those who cite the WHO rankings typically present them as an objective measure of the relative performance of national health care systems. They are not, says Whitman. The WHO rankings depend crucially on a number of underlying assumptions -- some of them logically incoherent, some characterized by substantial uncertainty, and some rooted in ideological beliefs and values that not everyone shares...

[chief among it's biases is that it subtracts major point if the system is government run, claiming free market solutions are unstable. I.e., it's a joke.]

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Even huge tumour can't secure care in Ontario

Inside Sylvia de Vries lurked an enormous tumour and fluid totalling 18 kilograms [~40 lbs.]. But not even that massive weight gain and a diagnosis of ovarian cancer could assure her timely treatment in Canada. Fighting for her life, the Windsor woman headed to the United States. In
Pontiac, Mich., a surgeon excised the tumour - 35 centimetres at its longest - along with her ovaries, appendix, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix. In addition, 13 litres of fluid were drained during that October, 2006, operation.

And there was little time to spare: Had she waited two weeks, she would have faced potential multiorgan failure, rendering her unstable for surgery, according to a letter from Michael L. Hicks, who performed the four-hour operation at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland.
[snip]

But a devastating cancer diagnosis was only the beginning of Ms. deVries's troubles.

The Ontario Health Insurance Plan says it won't pay for the $60,000 cancer treatment because Ms. de Vries did not fill out the correct form seeking preapproval for out-of-country care...

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MASSACHUSETTS STRUGGLES

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has been boasting that his state's health reform initiative has reduced the number of uninsured by half, with nearly 300,000 more people added to the health insurance rolls. What he doesn't say is that four out of five of them are relying on taxpayer subsidies:

-- Only 63,000 -- or about one in five -- have purchased private insurance, and the majority of them pay no premiums - the rest pay tokens.

Meanwhile, the costs:

• Massachusetts now estimates that its spending on the new program for the uninsured may exceed its budget by nearly $150 million.
• Individuals who don't get insurance this year -- or don't get an exemption -- will face a fine of $912, four times last year's penalty and scheduled to increase each year.
• The state "negotiated" with the health insurers participating in the Commonwealth Connector to keep premium increases to about 5 percent this year. [i.e., price controls]

But the insurers said in order to keep their prices down, they warned they have to increase copayments and/or deductibles and/or cut benefits; many newly-insured say they have trouble finding primary care physicians who will see them.

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WHO WILL PAY THE BILL?

In 2009, when the next president takes office, the government is expected to spend $400 billion more than it takes in, adding to a national debt that tops $9 trillion. Yet Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both offer a long list of new spending proposals - $287 billion for Obama and $218 billion for Clinton. But what is more unclear is how they would pay for them.

To make matters worse, any tax increases and military reductions might be needed just to cover the government's existing shortfalls caused principally by rising health care costs and the pending baby boomer retirement...

[not to worry, they'll just repeal the Bush tax cuts and that will pay for everything. When are we going to learn: it's the spending.]

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Senate Signals Repeal of Bush Tax Cuts

[aren't I prophetic...]

The Senate on Thursday gave a sweeping endorsement to some of President Bush's tax cuts but rejected renewing others as all three major presidential candidates interrupted their campaigns to cast key votes on the budget. The chamber voted 52-47 to reject a move by Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., to extend Bush's tax cuts for middle- and higher-income taxpayers, investors and people inheriting businesses and big estates.

Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, voted for the full roster of Bush tax cuts. Rivals Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., both voted against them.

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Green movement also behind gas hike

[HT:HS]

USA Today recently reported that 40 percent of economists say the biggest threat of a recession is from rising oil prices. I don't believe it. There is no way 40 percent of economists could agree on anything. But I do believe 40 percent of $3.50 gas is caused by eco-stupidity.

But what if we had our own Iraq-sized supply that we haven't even touched yet?

We do. According to the U.S. Geological Survey we have at least 112 billion barrels of undrilled oil - by comparison, Iraq has 115 billion barrels and Venezuela 80 billion. According to the and American Petroleum Institute that's;

"enough to produce gasoline for 60 million cars and fuel oil for 25 million homes for 60 years."

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Film's casting call wants that 'inbred' look

A movie about to be filmed in Pittsburgh is casting Gothic characters -- including an albino-like girl and deformed people -- to depict West Virginia mountain people. "'Regular-looking" children need not apply. That's the gist of an open casting call for paid extras for "Shelter," a horror film starring Julianne Moore that will begin shooting in Pittsburgh in March. (Snip) Belajac said the announcement was not meant to stereotype people from West Virginia. But state officials and a history professor called it "unfortunate"...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_554266.html

Little Johnny pushed the teacher a little too far
.