Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Working Dog Teams Help to Make Baghdad’s Streets Safer
A Multinational Division Baghdad soldier and his four-legged partner work with other military dog teams here in helping to make Baghdad’s streets safer for Iraqi citizens and soldiers to live and operate.
“Ryky is a very friendly dog, She is not a trained attack dog, so I allow her to be sociable with soldiers. I let others pet her, because it is a big morale booster.”
Capable of detecting 19 separate odors on the battlefield and able to run off of a leash, the specialized service dogs have a distinct advantage, Harrington said.
“It would take another dog three hours to complete that stretch of road, because they would be on a six-foot leash and the handler has to present everything to the dog,”
“I think Ryky and I make soldiers’ jobs easier because we can search faster, the dog can smell better and she leads from the front,” Harrington said.
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U.S., Iraqi Forces Prepare for Election-fueled Violence
[HT:RL]
U.S. and Iraqi forces in Iraq’s Diyala province are preparing for rising violence amid upcoming provincial elections, an Army commander in Iraq said at a Pentagon news conference today. Army Col. Burt Thompson, commander of the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said he anticipates an increase in violent activities as the Jan. 31 polling date nears. “It's pretty clear what they'd be going after,” Thompson said, referring to potential election saboteurs. “It's to sway the hearts and the minds, to intimidate those civilians from going and voting.”
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WAR CRIMES AND THE FAILURE OF TRUTH
Israel does not need to justify itself to Europe
A report by the UN secretary general cites: "of the 8000 deaths in Afghanistan in 2007, 1500 are civilian deaths", killed by various bombings carried out by several armies, including European ones, operating in the region under NATO.
In 2008 the situation escalated and many more thousands were killed. In fact, even as we speak, European armies are causing the killing of innocent civilians and justifying it as inevitable in the struggle against the Taliban.
The Taliban has not fired any rocket into any European city. Hamas shoots into Israeli towns. The Taliban does not proclaim a sacred desire to kill all Europeans. Hamas promotes the killing of Jews in its charter and Hamas leaders repeat this instruction religiously in their sermons.
Yet Europeans continue fighting in Afghanistan, justifying their war on the grounds that they are at war against a central faction of Islamic fanaticism, just like Israel fights against the Hamas. Moreover, the Hamas' threat to Israel's security and future is far greater and more immediate than any threat the Taliban poses to Europe.
So why are Europeans allowed to conduct a war on territory that is thousands of miles removed from their homes, kill hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians and claim that their cause is necessary, while Israel cannot do the same? By what right do they absolve themselves while condemning Israel?
[A: none whatsoever, and it's call antisemitism.][Recommended > ]
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Hamas raids aid trucks, sells supplies
[HT:DH]
Hamas on Monday raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole their contents and sold them to the highest bidders.
Between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the army had ceased all military activity in Gaza and once again established a "humanitarian corridor" to help facilitate the transfer of the supplies.
The IDF said that since terminal activity is coordinated with UNRWA and the Red Cross, Israel could do nothing to prevent such raids, Israel Radio reported.
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Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza (Rare Video) (Must See)
Monday, January 12, 2009 3:21:05 PM ·
WEDDING PARTY IN GAZA - you won't believe this unless you see it with your own eyes. The person describing what you are about to see asks - how can they do this to their own people?
106,861 VIEWS. 1,064 COMMENTS.
Sustainable Peace: Possible in Gaza?
When it comes to national security and defense, the fundamental flaw with liberals is that they simply do not comprehend basic human nature. It’s as simple as that, and something that I cannot excuse. This article covers the main stream media's censorship of news, such as Hamas kidnapping children for use as human shields, their use of fake news stories, and how to reach sustainable peace in Gaze.
Liberals and democrats in Washington should read this piece, it'll help them a lot.
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UN To Send Fact-Finding Mission To Gaza
The United Nations Human Rights Council today adopted a resolution strongly condemning the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza, and decided to dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations committed in the territory.
Canada cast the only negative vote for the non-binding resolution, which received the support of 33 of the Council’s 47 members, while 13 countries abstained. [cowards]
In adopting the text, the Geneva-based body demanded that Israel – which launched the latest offensive 17 days ago with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks into Israel – immediately end its attacks and withdraw its military forces from Gaza...
[you know; give up - and leave Hamas behind and armed to continue the rockets attacks that started this mess. This whole thing is a pathetic joke, as is evidenced by the 'resolution' being issued before the 'fact-finding' publicity stunt.]
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A Non-Melting Arctic Ice Update
A sharp friend sent along these contrasting links: The Washington Post published an op-ed Tuesday from Vikki Spruill of the Ocean Conservancy about environmental issues for the new president:
Focus on the Arctic. The Arctic, Earth's air conditioner, is already experiencing some of the most severe effects of climate change.The Post accompanied this with a photo of melting Arctic ice over the piece captioned “Disintegration in the Arctic Ocean’s Ward Hunt Ice Shelf.”
But the Daily Tech cites new research from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign:
Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.
Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008.
It’s always wise to check out the actual science developments on global warming issues when liberal reporters insist, with a rather unscientific attitude, that there is no opposing side to report on.
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'Cow Tax' Uproar Underscores Greenhouse-Gas Divide
The idea of a so-called cow tax might seem far-fetched. But the uproar highlights a serious policy decision awaiting Mr. Obama's administration: whether to use the Clean Air Act to effectively brand as harmful carbon dioxide and other gases generated by the digestive processes of livestock. [and breathing]
Many environmental groups want the Clean Air Act used to control greenhouses gases. But business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are resisting. They argue such use of the Clean Air Act would lead to a cascade of unintended regulatory consequences, with regulations covering schools, hospitals, breweries, bakeries and farms.
At the core of the battle is a Supreme Court ruling last year that the 1970 Clean Air Act authorizes the agency to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions if it concludes they 'endanger' public health or welfare...
[I.e., the EPA can 'regulate' whatever it wants to by 'concluding' it's 'harmful'. And with Obama's team running the EPA...]
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Obama's 'climate czar'
[HT:NM]
The Washington Times is reporting that president-elect Obama's climate czar has ties to an international organization that promotes "global governance." According to the report, as recently as last week Carol M. Browner was listed as one of "14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society."
The group, one of many under the umbrella group Socialist International, calls for rich countries to shrink their economies in order to combat climate change. Browner's name and biography has since been removed from the Socialist International's web page.
Ms. Browner's appointment as Obama's climate czar does not need Senate confirmation.
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REFORMING RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School for Social Research recently proposed a plan to require workers to trade their current 401(k) plans in for a Guaranteed Retirement Account (GRA):
- Require every worker to put a mandatory 5 percent of after-tax earnings into a GRA (the employer would contribute half of the 5 percent).
- Pay a monthly amount at retirement, similar to an inflation-indexed annuity, with a guaranteed 3 percent real rate of return on the account balance.
- They do not allow individuals to pick from an array of funds; the money would instead be pooled and invested by the government as it sees fit.
- The government would have the right to reduce the guaranteed rate of return during economic downturns [so it's not 'guaranteed'].
- The fund would be managed by an independent body, similar to the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees; Congress has frequently attempted to require the TSP to invest in funds of dubious value [because they're politically correct].
[This is a blatant attempt to steal your 401K and let the government tax more of your money and play with the rest, plain and simple.]
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Economic Illiteracy Of The NY Times
The Times’ understanding of economics boils down to a simple formula — tax cuts, bad; spending, good. The Times thinks it’s not only possible, but desirable, to try to spend our way out of a recession caused by over-spending, deficits and misplaced priorities.
An editorial in yesterday’s Times urges President-elect Barack Obama to spend more — apparently, $800 billion isn’t enough — jettison his call for business tax breaks (which amount to less than $1 for every $5 of new spending) and forget entirely about his promise to cut taxes for those who make up to $200,000 a year.
While The Times is all for tax cuts for “low and middle-income” Americans (at least in theory), it is apoplectic at the idea of cutting taxes on the rich (a term it never defines). It reasons that while middle-class tax cuts will “stimulate the economy”, while upper-income taxpayers are more likely to save, which supposedly will result in little economic benefit.
How does The Times think the rich will save — by shoving their tax refunds into a piggy-bank?
Their tax savings will be invested in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, which will lead to more capital investment and more job creation — far more than simple spending on consumer goods. Investment, which leads to job creation, which in turns leads to long-term consumer spending, is essential to a recovery.
It’s amazing that the editorial board of America’s self-styled newspaper of record can’t grasp basic economic principles.
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FOX Business Sues Treasury for Failure to Respond to Freedom of Information Act Requests
FOX Business Network has filed a lawsuit against the United States Treasury Department over failure to provide information on the bailout funds or respond to FBN’s expedited requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA].“Despite the several requests for expedited information filed by FBN, it has become apparent that the Treasury will not cooperate without mounting legal pressure. Therefore, we have filed a complaint in the Federal Court in New York and ask the Court to make the Treasury provide the information sought by the journalists at FBN.”
FBN is asking for the Treasury Department to identify, among other issues, the troubled assets purchased, any collateral extended, and any restrictions placed on these financial institutions for their participation in this program.
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McClintock ready to just say no as he starts House term
WASHINGTON – Tom McClintock arrived in Washington last week, ready to say no.
He'll say no to President-elect Barack Obama's plan to spend roughly $800 billion to rev up the economy. He'll say no to spending billions to bail out the auto industry. And he'll say no to his home state of California and others looking to Congress to get out of their budget messes.
He said the federal government doesn't have the money and needs to spend less to avoid "the same folly" as California, which is projecting a $40 billion shortfall in the next 18 months."My state is going to hell in a handbasket, and my country's not far behind. It's incumbent upon the Republicans to sound the warning,"
McClintock said he'll oppose Obama's stimulus plan because the U.S. budget deficit is predicted to hit a record $1.2 trillion this year. He said the auto companies can file for bankruptcy. And he said California shouldn't get any federal help because the state overspent for years, causing its own troubles.
He has another big difference with Democratic leaders, opposing mandatory controls on greenhouse emissions:"We've tried that now in California, and it has been systemically shutting down California's economy."
[excuse my 'I told you so', but this is the guy I voted for governor {the wife voted for that actor guy}. Had he won we likely wouldn't be in the mess we're in - certainly it would be smaller.]
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Go East, young man? Californians look for the exit
Mike Reilly spent his lifetime chasing the California dream. This year he's going to look for it in Colorado.
With a house purchase near Denver in the works, the 38-year-old engineering contractor plans to move his family 1,200 miles away from his home state's lemon groves, sunshine and beaches. For him, years of rising taxes, dead-end schools, unchecked illegal immigration and clogged traffic have robbed the Golden State of its allure.
Is there something left of the California dream?
"If you are a Hollywood actor," ... "but not for us." [snip]
The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.
Why are so many looking for an exit?
With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for yet higher taxes. Median housing prices have nose-dived one-third from a 2006 peak, but many homes are still out of reach for middle-class families.
"You see wages go down and the cost of living go up," Reilly says. His property taxes will be $1,300 in Colorado, less than 1/3 what he's forced to pay in California... [snip]
Financial adviser Barry Hartz lived in California for 60 years and once ran for state Assembly before relocating with his wife last year to Colorado Springs, Colo., where his son's family had moved.
"The saddest thing I saw was the escalation of home prices to the point our kids, when they got married, could not live in the community where they lived and grew up," ... "Some people call that progress."
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[a very high price for environmoralism. Q: how many Californian's are aware that in the Bay Area more land has been put off limits to any development than has been developed - total? I'm not kidding, BA development uses ~750K sq. acrers, while >1M sq. acres have already been 'protected' from any development. Now add NIMBY attitudes, 'hill protections' and global warming-required public-transit-friendly high-density development and single family homes skyrocket. But we can't figure out why they cost so much?
I recommend Dr. Sowell's work on this (or any other) topic: Sowell Articles
Plant farm accused of favoring foreign labor
A Maryville woman has filed complaints with three government agencies saying she was discriminated against by a Blount County nursery farm because she is a U.S.-born worker. In a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, Sabrina Steele alleges that Pope's Plant Farm on U.S. 411 South and Mike Pope, of the plant farm, discouraged her from accepting agricultural employment because the firm wanted to hire foreign-born workers.
[when we're ready to fix our immigration problems, we'll start with employers {we've the tools now - just not the will}]
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The answer on immigration
The U.S. routinely awards green cards to more than a million legal immigrants each year. They play by the rules, and together with those who have come before them, now comprise the largest legal immigrant population in U.S. history. But to sustain this generous legal immigration policy, we must put an end to illegal immigration.
The solution is simple: enforce current law.
Failure to enforce these laws has contributed to the more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. Close to one-quarter of all federal prisoners are foreign born. There are, however, some recent bright spots.
In just the past two years, the administration has begun to focus on the job magnet that attracts illegal immigrants and is also working with state and local law enforcement authorities to identify and deport criminal aliens.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up its efforts against employers who hire illegal immigrants by relying on criminal prosecutions and the seizure of assets of companies that employ illegal immigrants.
Some 93,000 employers now participate in E-Verify, a program created by Congress that enables them to verify that workers are eligible to be hired...
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Any Amnesty for Illegal Migrants Is Simply Surrender
It is a cast iron principle of justice in any civilised society that nobody is above the law. Yet this does not seem to apply to the hundreds of thousands of migrants who are illegally living in Britain. a vast, swelling army of foreign lawbreakers has been allowed to settle here without the slightest interference from the authorities...
[almost as if they were living in a sanctuary ]
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[well, divisive diversity is divisive]Back With a Vengeance
England decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, a move hailed by libertarians of the day as getting the government out of bedrooms [snip]
A few years ago Home Office Minister Michael O'Brien found the Fire Service had an overly tough and masculine culture and that firemen were failing to come to terms with homosexuality. The 6,750 London brigade firemen were then presented by a questionnaire from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, seeking to know whether they were homosexual or not.
Most recently at Brighton Pilgrim Homes, a charity that operates a care-home for elderly Christians, has been accused of institutional discrimination and has lost its grant from the Brighton and Hove Council because the residents refused to answer questions about their sexuality. [snip]
In October 2007, a Christian couple, Vincent and Pauline Matherick, who over the years had taken in 28 foster children, were forced by local authorities from Somerset County Council to give up being foster parents after they refused to promote homosexuality to children in their care if the children expressed an interest in it [which is where our schools come in].
Nothing could indicate more clearly that the side presently prosecuting and winning Britain's culture war has no interest in supporting liberty or the individual's privacy or dignity, or show up its own sometimes barely disguised viciousness...
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The Workshops Of Identity
by Bill Whittle
Part 2: The Reactor:
America is the greatest nation in the history of the world.
This sentence – verifiably true as we are about to see – fills me with a burning pride so great I cannot get through the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium without getting misty at the awe-inspiring scope and the terrible cost of it.
Consider this: Militarily, the United States is not only unmatched on the world stage, but its relative strength is unmatched in history. And without question, this juggernaut is the most benign dominant military force the world has ever seen – and by a very large margin.
Consider modern history, which many consider the time since the end of World War II. At the end of 1945, the only military force of any real substance remaining in the world was that of the Soviet Union, and while they had large numbers of troops and tanks, they had no navy and no strategic air force to speak of. The United States possessed, intact, the most awe-inspiring, battle-hardened navy the world had ever seen. It possessed sky-darkening clouds of B-29 strategic bombers. And it possessed, alone, the atomic bomb.
The United States of America could have planted its flag anywhere it wanted and no one would have been able to do a thing about it. And what did we do with this arsenal? We scrapped the ships, drove steel bars through the wings of the priceless bombers, and began the largest de-militarization in the history of the world.
And in all of the years since then, despite what Michael Moore may want you to believe from the comfort of his editing room, the United States has deployed in response to aggression – not to cause it. Berlin, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland – all of it Soviet — that is to say Communist – Leftist – aggression. Ask a 17 year old indoctrinated with Hollywood’s portrayal of America as a world-striding bully who started the War in Korea, or Vietnam, or Nicaragua or any of these places, and I will bet you a Xbox 360 Elite that they will not reply that it was in fact worldwide socialism, but rather America. Tell them that communists started Korea and Vietnam and pretty much everything else and they will likely ask “what is a communist?”
And for those who feel that such a once-noble America is dead and gone, let’s talk about the last time we heard about “Imperialism” and “a war for oil.” In 1991, after destroying the army that Saddam Hussein sent into Kuwait to steal, rape and murder, the United States sat alone and unchallenged on top of the richest oil field on the planet. What did it do? It put out the fires and went home.
And now we have spent 4000 and more lives building schools and hospitals and protecting a people against fellow Muslims who show day in and day out that they will kill as many children as they need to in order to terrorize their own people into submission.
That story, apparently, holds no interest for today’s Hollywood...
[Recommended > ]
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House Rules Package ‘Does Not Represent Change’
House Republicans are calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to reconsider her plan to change House rules to end term limits for committee chairs.
When Republicans were in the majority in 1995, the House adopted fairness rules written in conjunction with Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” which included six-year term limits for committee chairs to encourage fresh ideas and guard against strict longevity.
In a letter to Pelosi on Monday, GOP leaders said the rules package that Pelosi is considering would restrict the opportunity for members to offer alternative legislation which Republicans guaranteed to Democrats as “motions to recommit.” [snip]
“And it has grave implications for the American people and their freedom, coming at a time when an unprecedented expansion of federal power and spending is being hastily planned by a single party behind closed doors. Republicans will vigorously oppose repealing these reforms if they are brought to a vote on the House floor."
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[apologies for the tardy post, but the deed is done - and folks link Charlie Rangle, being investigated for four separate criminal acts, can keep his chairmanship indefinitely. 'The most ethical congress in history'.]
LATimes Prints Hamas Terrorist's Op Ed
Amazingly, the L. A. Times gave ample space to a Hamas terrorist to "explain" how the current Gaza action is all Israel's fault. Mousa Abu Marzook the purported "deputy of the political bureau of Hamas," the group called an "Islamic Resistance Movement," shamefacedly claims that Israel's actions shattered "any incentive by Palestinian leaders to enforce the moratorium on rocket fire."
This so-called deputy of the political bureau of the terror agency Hamas engages in one lie after another in this piece. He peels off one after another accusations of Israel's culpability after each excuse for his own people's failures.
In fact, there are so many distortions and lies in this thing it is impossible to critique each of them in turn. It would take reams of discussion and many hundreds of links to various news reports refute each of them. But that has been the Palestinian way, hasn't it? Present so many bold faced lies that your opponent simply tires of the argument.
The sad thing is that the L.A.Times has treated this terror agency as a legitimate voice among the nations of the world.
Thanks L.A.Times for giving terrorists the legitimacy they crave.
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Fashion Writer: Michelle O's a 'Goddess.' Palin is 'Worst Dressed'
It appears Obamamania has not only infiltrated British newspapers, but so has Palin Derangement Syndrome...even in the fashion section.
This month, a goddess stepped onto the world stage and made it her own.Makes you wonder if the editors intentionally made the obvious errors in the preceding paragraph because they knew it was going to make so many people sic[k].
First Lady-in-waiting Michelle Obama, who looks as chic in a chainstore’s $148 printed tank dress as she does in Narciso Rodriguez designer wear, proved that you can be tall, have unruly hair, be amother [sic] of two demanding daughters, be married to someone who is, frankly, a sex god, and come out smiling, confident and truly a style icon. [...]
WORST DRESSED
There were lots ofcontenders [sic] for thistitle [sic]. Dannii Minogue, the Geldof girls, Beyoncé, Madonna inthat [sic] dress made of grass. But the award simply has to go to Sarah Palin, who may have spent $150,000 on six suits but still resembled a hopelessly sexless, up [sic] hockey mom who buys all her clothes from Wal-Mart.
Of course, what really makes this breathtakingly silly is calling such an attractive woman -- who, by the way, has five children INCLUDING one born this year!!! -- hopelessly sexless.
Tough to believe the author missed this delicious irony...or maybe not.
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A Revealing Morning With Sarah Palin
One of the things you quickly learn when you visit the Palins is that the legend created around who they are and how they live is no myth. It appears to be absolutely real and everything about them seems 100% sincere. From the stuffed hunting trophies on the wall, to Track’s military photo by the TV set, to Piper’s crayon school projects on the refrigerator door - everything is exactly as you imagined.
What’s particularly valuable about my perspective is that I am not Charlie Gibson, Matt Lauer or Greta Van Susteren (who I understand now gets her mail delivered to the Palin home) — the conductors of the three most prominent interviews done in this Wasilla home on a frozen lake at the end of a drive with the sign “Palins” posted on a tree. I am virtually unknown nationally and there was absolutely no reason for anything to be done differently as “show” for us. We saw the genuine Sarah Palin and it is patently obvious this is the only one who exists.
She is the real deal. [snip]
I also know, with moral certitude, that the media assassination of her, her character and family, was one of the greatest public injustices of our time and that I’m totally justified in devoting my life to correcting the historical record in my forthcoming film, “Media Malpractice… How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Smeared.”
[Recommended > ]
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