Conflict between Georgia and Russia expands

The war between Russia and Georgia expanded on Saturday, with fighting spilling outside the Caucasus province of Ossetia, both sides moving reinforcements into the region and Georgian President Mikheil Saakhashvili declaring martial law in the country.

Meanwhile the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia condemned in a joint statement the actions of Russian forces fighting in South Ossetia. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of the republic of Georgia and 'nothing can change this,' Polish President Lech Kaczynski told journalists in Warsaw.

While the international community continued to exhort both sides to step back from the brink, the United Nations Security Council remained unable to forge a united response.

Poland has been lobbying for Georgia's entry into NATO and the EU.

[of course not: Russia sits on the security council, with veto authority. And were Georgia admitted into NATO or the EU, one or both might actually have to do something. ]

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'Why Georgia Lost the War'

StrategyPage.Com weighs in with an excellent article on the conflict in Georgia where it appears the Russians have successfully kicked the Georgian army out of South Ossetia and is continuing its assault.

This is raising fears that Putin may undertake a full scale invasion and crush the little Georgian army while affecting political changes in Georgia more to Moscow's liking - like getting rid of its pro-western government and replacing it with a gang more amendable to Putin's ministrations...

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Russia warns Lithuania on US missile defense

Russian lawmakers warned Lithuania against agreeing to place U.S. missile defense sites in the Baltic country, saying Wednesday that such a move could trigger a Russian military buildup in the region.

Russia could deploy more troops to its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad if Lithuania offers its soil for the deployment of U.S. missile interceptors, said a statement approved unanimously by the Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma.

Russia is fiercely against the U.S. plans to deploy components of a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying the move would undermine its nuclear deterrent.

[the 'shield' is only capable of defending against a few missiles - such as may some day come from the middle east - and they know it. More horse pucky grandstanding. The real questions is if Europe, who's being shielded (check the flight path) will have the grandes to tell Czar Putin where to get off... {my money's staying in my pocket}]

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Does O Understand Anything About Ballistic Missile Defense?

BMD is the only practical answer to the uncontrolled spread of nukes to mad regimes. We can make it all work, if and only if our leaders understand the urgency of the problem and its emerging technical solutions.

If the Middle East -- and the rest of the world -- survives the aggressive rise of Iranian nukes and missiles, it will be thanks to Ballistic Missile Defense -- a completely new technology that is just being put into place. The next ten years will tell the story. [snip]

It is crucial to keep pushing those weapon systems as fast as possible over the next decade, as high-powered laser defenses are brought from the lab to the field. In ten years we may finally be safe again, after a 70-year Age of Nuclear Anxiety.

This is all clearly understood by other threatened nations, like Japan, Israel, and India. They are jumping on BMD technology. They know their necks are on the line; so is ours. [snip]

That is why Obama has to get this one, and get it right --- unlike all the Leftist politicians who've fought against BMD since Ronald Reagan. The President and the Dems control Congress. They could still kill our last best hope for safety. Or they could just slow and sabotage our defense buildup, as they have consistently tried to do in the past. [snip]

So I come back to the biggest question: Does O understand anything about Ballistic Missile Defense? So far he hasn't shown any sign of it...

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[FLASHBACK: NNBrief June 19:

“I Will Slow Development of Future Combat Systems”

Among other things, Obama promises to “cut investments in unproven missile defense systems,” which in reality have already proven remarkably effective; [snip]

Most alarmingly, however, he literally promises to “slow development of future combat systems.”

Think about the frightening implications of this pledge for a moment.

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Cindy Sheehan qualifies for the ballot against Pelosi

California
Nancy Pelosi faces an unwelcome challenge from the left, as Cindy Sheehan qualifies for the November ballot for the California 8th District House seat held by the Speaker. John Wildemuth of the San Francisco Chronicle reports...

[Pelosi is almost single handedly running the country's economy into the ground by blocking any vote on increased domestic oil drilling - but watch her get re-elected... {ironic that a vote for Sheehan would actually be a good thing for the country as she'd replace Pelosi as a junior, and so doesn't inherit the speakership}]

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Again This Morning, No (D) for Incarcerated Detroit Mayor

The Big Three networks continued to ignore the party affiliation of the now-incarcerated Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Friday morning, just as they had done in their evening news programs the previous night.

The Early Show on CBS chose to ignore the story of Kilpatrick’s arrest on a bail violation entirely, while ABC’s Good Morning America devoted one 16-second news brief to the story near the beginning of its 7 am Eastern hour.
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What is Syria Hiding from the IAEA?

You will recall the spectacular raid by Israeli planes on what most are now calling a nuclear reactor in Syria that was built with the help of North Korean technicians and scientists.

At the time, we were assured by those in favor of engaging Syria that Baby Assad and his cutthroat regime had no intention of building weapons of mass destruction. Even after Syria was caught with its proverbial pants down, the call to "negotiate" with these thugs continued.

Now it appears that Assad has decided not to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to come into his country and sniff around for evidence the Syrian dictator is still trying to build nukes...

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CAIR Assassination Plot?

[HT:GT]

"In death there is something to celebrate..."
- Affad Shaikh, ‘Celebrating Death,’ December 20, 2007

Last month, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stationed at the U.S./Mexico border held the Civil Rights Coordinator of CAIR-California, Affad Shaikh, and others whom he was with for questioning. The agents suspected that the group had the intention of coming to the United States to assassinate President Bush.

The following will provide a detailed context for why the CBP would believe such a thing and will make the case as to why the U.S. government should not drop the issue.

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Olympic Pause

... However, the most compelling reason for freedom-loving Americans to turn our backs on these Olympics and its sponsors is the repressive, liberty-choking government of China. Many stories written and broadcast over the years have documented the imprisonment of Christians in China - notably the Falun Gong - the astonishingly brutal birth control policies, the silencing of critics - the list is seemingly inexhaustible.

Comparisons to the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin staged by you-know-who are quite apt.

McDonald's and Coke -- along with companies like Samsung and General Electric -- are "worldwide partners" of the Olympic Games, more specifically the International Olympic Committee, the rogue group that delivered the economic windfall that hosting an Olympics brings to the police state of China. GE, of course, is the parent company of NBC, the network broadcasting the Games.

Had these same CEOs simply declared that they would pull their sponsorship money from the IOC should they award the Games to such a government as China's, the normal blustering of IOC president Jacques Rogge would have become sputtering and he would have caved. China would have received its appropriate rebuke, the back of the hand from the civilized world.

McDonald's, Coke, and the other worldwide partners of these Olympic Games failed to take a principled stand on the basic freedoms no government should impede. They have decided to appease the reds in Beijing in the interest of winning an admittedly vast, untapped market. The least we can do is stand up to them. ... Such a protest is not boycotting capitalism. Capitalism is about choices. Certain companies made theirs. We should make ours.

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UW study examines snowpack

Maybe the snow in the Cascade Mountains isn't in such immediate peril from global warming after all. Despite previous studies suggesting a warmer climate is already taking a bite out of Washington's snowpack, there's no clear evidence that human-induced climate change has caused a drop in 20th century snow levels, according to a new study by University of Washington scientists...

[as time goes by... It's the theory that's melting.]

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Global Warming Did It! Well, Maybe Not.

We're heading into the heart of hurricane season, and any day now, a storm will barrel toward the United States, inspiring all the TV weather reporters to find a beach where they can lash themselves to a palm tree. We can be certain of two things: First, we'll be told that the wind is blowing very hard and the surf is up. Second, some expert will tell us that this storm might be a harbinger of global warming.

Somewhere along the line, global warming became the explanation for everything. Right-thinking people are not supposed to discuss any meteorological or geophysical event -- a hurricane, a wildfire, a heat wave, a drought, a flood, a blizzard, a tornado, a lightning strike, an unfamiliar breeze, a strange tingling on the neck -- without immediately invoking the climate crisis. It causes earthquakes, plagues and backyard gardening disappointments. Weird fungus on your tomato plants? Classic sign of global warming... [snip]

The message that needs to be communicated to these people is: "Your problem is not global warming. Your problem is that you're nuts."

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BTW...

Gore's call to replace America's electric plants with windmills and the like in the next 10 years is a lawyer's delight.

Billions would be spent on litigation and on public hearings. Eco-protesters would use every stalling tactic possible to fight the installation of each and every turbine.

I say that because that is what they are doing now...

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[HT:PK]

Inconvenient truths, after it was revealed that Al Goreʼs energy consumption at his spacious Tennessee home rose 10 percent in 2007, despite the installation of solar panels and more efficient light bulbs. Gore still consumes 50 percent more electricity every month than the average American does in a year.

[thanks PK, but doesn't matter: we little people should trade in our cars for bicycles...]
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EPA rejects Perry plea on Ethanol

In a move that did little to quell the debate, the Environmental Protection Agency denied Perry's request to reduce by half this year's U.S. ethanol requirement — to 4.5 billion from 9 billion gallons.

Perry said the waiver was needed because rising U.S. ethanol output is inflating corn prices, wreaking havoc on the state's massive livestock industry and boosting grocery bills for American families.

But on Thursday, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said Perry's request had not proved the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets ethanol quotas, is causing "severe economic harm," a requirement needed to justify a waiver.

[evidently we must be harmed 'severely' before anything can be done? government]

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“To the annals of market manias and regulatory follies, a new chapter is being added: The Great Ethanol Bubble of 2008. It is possible that someday a fuel made from a cheap, abundant, renewable crop may replace oil. But it won't be food-based ethanol. It’s time not only to stop subsidizing the stuff but to revamp the chaotic, politicized and wasteful system of subsidies for alternative energy."

— The Editors, The Los Angeles Times

[when the LA Times wants to stop a government program, you know it's a no brainer...]
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Media Mostly MIA on Obama's Downer Delivered to 7 Year-Old

When presidential candidates answer questions from children about why they want the job, most will give an answer that uplifts the child and the candidate. Not Barack Obama. At a campaign stop in Elkhart, Indiana, a seven-year-old girl asked the Democrat why he wants to be President — and he told her that America has gone downhill:

"America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don’t want that future for my children."

Obama's media water-carriers have virtually ignored his very telling response, one that is reminiscent of Jimmy Carter's gloomiest, malaise-based assessments of America during his awful presidency.

Here is a rundown of what happened from Ed Morrissey of Hot Air (direct YouTube link to relevant video is here):

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Court reverses home-school decision

An appellate court on Friday said parents have the right to educate their children at home despite not having a teaching credential.

The 44-page decision by the Los Angeles Second District Court of Appeals declared that “California statutes permit home-schooling as a species of private-school education.”

It is a reversal of a March ruling by Justice H. Walter Croskey that parents without teaching credentials do not have a constitutional right to teach their children in a home-school setting. The ruling also jeopardized some independent-study programs.

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Saudi slams 'racist' Israeli Nissan ad

Gulf states may boycott the Nissan Motor Company as a result of an Israeli TV commercial that depicts Saudis angered by a fuel-efficient car, a Saudi official has said. The new campaign by Renault-Nissan caused an uproar in the Gulf when it showed a group of Saudi oil barons screaming and attacking the Renault-Nissan vehicle.

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