Monday, July 13, 2009
Thousands protest in Iran, defying crackdown vow
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Thousands of protesters streamed down avenues of the capital Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator" and defying security forces who fired tear gas and charged with batons, witnesses said.
Iranian authorities had promised tough action to prevent the marches, which supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been planning for days through the Internet. Heavy police forces deployed at key points in the city ahead of the marches, and Tehran's governor vowed to "smash" anyone who heeded the demonstration calls.
In some places, police struck hard. Security forces chased after protesters, beating them with clubs on Valiasr Street, Tehran's biggest north-south avenue, witnesses said
But the clampdown was not total. At Tehran University, a line of police blocked a crowd from reaching the gates of the campus, but then did not move to disperse them as the protesters chanted "Mir Hossein" and "death to the dictator" and waved their hands in the air, witnesses said. The crowd grew to nearly 1,000 people, the witnesses said.
"Police, protect us," some of the demonstrators chanted, asking the forces not to move against them.
The protesters appeared to reach several thousand, but their full numbers were difficult to determine, since marches took place in several parts of the city at once and mingled with passers-by. There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.
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Iran refuses to back down 'one step' in nuclear row
Iran will not back down ''even one step'' over its nuclear work, a senior adviser to the country's top authority said in remarks published on Thursday, making clear Tehran's continued defiance in a row with the West.
Western countries believe Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb. Tehran insists it wants to master nuclear technology to generate electricity, and has rejected all overtures for talks...
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Egypt nabs Palestinian-led terror cell 'plotting Suez attacks'
Egyptian authorities have arrested 25 al-Qaida-linked terrorists on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil pipelines and ships crossing the Suez Canal. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said the new cell was led by a Palestinian and included 24 Egyptians, mostly engineers and technicians.
They planned to use mobile phones to detonate explosives against ships crossing the Canal...
[GWOT. And since we refuse to develop our own petroleum resources, such an attack would spike oil prices the world over.]
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US, Not Arab Countries, to Receive Palestinian Refugees from Iraq
The Obama administration, in a precedent-setting move, has approved resettlement in the U.S. for 1,350 Palestinian refugees from Iraq. But before this becomes a done deal, Congress and the media ought to ask the White House and the State Department why these refugees, rather than being granted asylum in the U.S., shouldn't get immigration visas to Arab countries, especially those with immense oil wealth.
Wouldn't that be a more logical, more natural destination for these refugees?
White House reporters should ask President Obama, who has twice met with Saudi King Abdullah this year, whether he urged the Saudi monarch to welcome these refugees. After all, Saudi Arabia is in the Sunni Arab camp; so are Palestinians. Why shouldn't as rich a country as Saudi Arabia be expected to welcome a few thousand of these Palestinians? Or what about Kuwait or other oil-rich sheikdoms along the Persian Gulf?
Why are these Palestinian refugees having to be resettled in the U.S. instead of in their more natural milieu -- in Arab countries that constantly trumpet their great solicitude for their well-being (but hardly ever deliver)?
The truth is that Arab leaders feel no real kinship or solidarity with Palestinians. They have exploited them as pawns to use in their century-old campaign to deny Jews their sovereign rights as a nation in the Middle East. But otherwise, they have no use for them.
Just examine the fine print of the so-called Arab "peace" initative, which predicates normal relations with Israel on a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees into Israel, while stipulating that each Arab nation reserves the right to deny them "patriation" within its own borders...
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TAKE IT EASY ON MUSLIM EXTREMISTS, POLICE TOLD
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POLICE will be ordered not to charge Muslim extremists in many hate crime cases – to stop them becoming more militant. [?]
Examples of crimes to which a blind eye may be turned include incitement to religious hatred or viewing extremist material on the internet.
Last night critics warned that the move could mean Islamic radicals being give the freedom to encourage violence. Some saw the move as a politically correct attempt to appease extremists who hate Britain. It could even mean officers tolerating many activities of Muslim preachers of hate like the hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza.
“This sounds like abject surrender. Everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law. It doesn’t matter whether someone is suspected of incitement to hatred or shoplifting – they should all face the same risk of prosecution. There should be no special favours or treatment for any section of the community.”
Officials insist there is no suggestion that people who have clearly committed offences will avoid prosecution. A senior Whitehall official said the guidance was being drawn up as part of a drive to use persuasion rather than the criminal justice system to fight extremism. He added:
“The aim is to stop people being dragged into extremism. We need to be able to provide support for individuals who are drawn into criminal activity..." [i.e., they're the victims]
Millions of pounds have been pledged to fund Muslim groups, drawing claims that they are receiving special treatment. The latest move represents a reversal of the policy introduced under Tony Blair in the wake of the terrorist attacks in London in 2005, when as Prime Minister he called for an overhaul of the criminal justice system to root out and prosecute extremists....
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It's Getting Cold Out There
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No wonder skeptics consider the left's belief in man-made global warming as akin to a fad religion -- last week in Italy, G8 leaders pledged to not allow the Earth's temperature to rise more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
For its next act, the G8 can part the Red Sea. The worst part is: These are the brainy swells who think of themselves as -- all bow -- Men of Science.
The funny part is: G8 leaders can't even decide the year from which emissions must be reduced. 1990? 2005? "This question is a mystery for everyone," an aide to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.
And while President Obama led the charge for the G8 nations to agree to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in industrial nations by 2050, the same Russian aide dissed the standard as "likely unattainable"... [snip]
The global-warming community's reaction to real-world data -- and the lack of warming in this century -- has been to remain true believers despite all evidence to the contrary.
Except now they call it "climate change."
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Democrats Double Down on the Sotomayor Race Card
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Democrats are playing the race card with Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in more ways than one.
The White House and Senate Democrats want a vote on Sotomayor's nomination before the August congressional recess. If Senate Republicans surrender to the Democrats' race pace card, it means a fast, uninformed vote on a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court.
Democrats are hustling the vote because they don't want to give Americans time to be fully informed about Sotomayor. What we already know calls for the Senate to proceed with caution, not full-speed ahead. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement July 7, questioning Sotomayor's ability and impartiality based on what little is already known.
Examining Sotomayor's respect for the Constitution and rule of law, her judicial philosophy, temperament, impartiality and judgment needs considerably more time than her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fulfilling their constitutional oath requires a meaningful debate by the entire Senate and time for input from their employers, the American people.
['Race' aspect = fear of 'losing the hispanic vote', later in piece {but a canard, the important part is above}]
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Sotomayor Backers Urge Press to Attack Fireman, Will Media Comply?
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On the eve of Senate hearings on the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, her supporters are urging the media to attack the Connecticut fireman in the middle of a key ruling she made that could impact the proceedings.
The only question is whether or not Obama-loving press will comply with these wishes...or is that really even a question?
While you ponder, the following was reported by McClatchy Friday:
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Democrats ask the press to smear Frank Ricci
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A coordinated, deliberate tactic to smear a private citizen.
Eugene Volokh has the despicable story:
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The Road to Economic Demoralization
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There’s no question that current government policies for taxes, spending, and regulation are causing the U.S. to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity, and growth.
What’s particularly galling about Obamanomics is that we may well be losing our competitive edge with Europe. While Europe is ever so slightly moving toward Reagan and Thatcher, the U.S. is shifting toward an overtaxed and overregulated model that smacks of François Mitterrand. That’s something no one should want to tolerate
Heavy government controls at home, along with an income-leveling social policy couched in economic-recovery terms, is no way to run a railroad. At the simple stroke of a computer key, world investment flows to its most hospitable destination. That includes a reliable currency.
But in President Bush’s last year and President Obama’s first, the U.S. has become a less-hospitable destination for global capital. That should worry everybody... [snip]
Higher tax rates undermine the incentive model of growth. At the margin, investment risk and work effort become less rewarding. On top of this, Obama’s regulatory moves toward greater government control of the economy will further drown spirits in a sea of red tape born of bureaucratic officialdom.
Think about this in terms of the threat to nationalize heath care, which is over 15 percent of the economy. Additionally, Washington’s cap-and-trade proposals will essentially nationalize the entire energy sector -- another 15 percent of the economy -- sending long tentacles into every nook of the economy that’s impacted by energy, which is virtually everything... [snip]
Here’s the clincher: Year-to-date, Dow Jones stocks are off 8 percent, while China stocks are up 71 percent. The world index is up 4 percent. Emerging markets are up 25 percent. They’re all beating us. None of this is good.
We’re going the wrong way. That’s why stock markets are not voting for the United States anymore.
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Obama distracts the public by falling back on an old standby
Apparently, investigating Bush will take precedence over the economy - at least until it starts to recover.
With the falling poll numbers endangering Obama initiatives on cap trade and health care reform, the President needs to fall back on his hobby horse from the Presidential campaign - big bad George Bush (and the need for "change"). This, I think, explains the New York Times story today on a secret intelligence program after 9/11 that was never divulged to Congress, the new charges by Nancy Pelosi that the CIA lied to Congress, and the threat of a new investigation by Attorney General Eric Holder into alleged acts of torture during the Bush years.
The Obama administration's loyal accomplices in the national media will be more than happy to focus on Bush and his "crimes". If Obama is lucky, maybe the people won't hear quite so much in the next few months about the economy, or at least until a turnaround occurs.
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In Search of an Intelligent Energy Policy
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No responsible energy policy can go forward that is rooted in the belief that man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions significantly contribute to global warming or "climate change" as it is now called.
Unfortunately, the Waxman-Markey bill, recently passed by the House, sets the foundation for an energy policy guided by the premise that man-made CO2 emissions are causing climate change and must be reduced regardless of the economic consequences... [snip]
The ice-core data is interesting on two accounts: one, it demonstrates that the simple cause and effect relationship presumed by the current man-made climate change hypothesis - "that changes in CO2 levels cause changes in the temperature" - is actually the other way around; two, it demonstrates that the earth has experienced significant warming periods in the past - much warmer than the current period at a time when man wasn't burning fossil fuels... [snip]
The most recent cooling trend, displayed on the above graph, is well outside the predictions of the models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC (shown [within, top] below). The IPCC has been the most influential body in driving energy policy in countries around the world and uses climate models like the current Waxmen-Markey bill to make projections regarding how much warming we can expect to save by cutting CO2 emissions to certain levels.
The following graph from the Science and Public Policy Institute displays the real temperature trend from 2001-2009 versus the IPCC projections. This graph emphasizes that assumptions used by the IPCC models - that a certain level of CO2 causes a certain degree of warming - MUST be incorrect.
A recent study from EnergyTomorrow.org projected that the economic impacts of private sector spending in 2020 - if drilling bans were lifted on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Outer Continental Shelf (Pacific and Atlantic offshore and the Eastern Golf of Mexico), and the Rocky Mountains - would result in the creation of 110,000 - 160,000 jobs and 22 - 33 trillion dollars in revenue.
Lifting these drilling bans would appear to be a reasonable place for an intelligent energy policy to begin.
[Highly Recommended > ]
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Then >
Europe's 'free', state-run health care drawbacks
As President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the American health care system, the role of government is at the heart of the debate. In Britain, France, Switzerland and elsewhere, public health systems have become political punching bags for opposition parties, costs have skyrocketed and patients have needlessly suffered and died.
"There is nothing inherently different about cancer in the U.S. and Britain to explain why more people are dying here,"
"I would warn Americans that once the government gets its nose into health care, it's hard to stop the dangerous effects later,"
said Valentin Petkantchin, of the Institut Economique Molinari in France. He said many private providers have been pushed out, forcing a dependence on an overstretched public system.
Similar scenarios have been unfolding in the Netherlands and Switzerland, where everyone must buy health insurance.
"The minute you make health insurance mandatory, people start overusing it,"
said Dr. Alphonse Crespo, an orthopedic surgeon and research director at Switzerland's Institut Constant de Rebecque. Government influence in health care may also stifle innovation, other experts warn. Bureaucracies are slow to adopt new medical technologies. In Britain and Germany, even after new drugs are approved, access to them is complicated because independent agencies must decide if they are worth buying.
When the breast cancer drug Herceptin was proven to be effective in 1998, it was available almost immediately in the U.S. But it took another four years for the U.K. to start buying it for British breast cancer patients.
"The U.S. health system is a bit of a mess, but based on what's happened in some countries in Europe, I'd be nervous about recommending more government involvement."
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HEALTH CARE: COMPETITION, NOT GOVERNMENT CONTROL
Despite claims to the contrary, President Obama is looking to nationalize health care in the United States eventually. ["fifteen, maybe twenty years from now" - Obama]
Goodman, who has extensively studied the British health care system, says Americans should do everything possible to prevent a remake of the U.S. system into the British model.
If a person is healthy, Goodman says, nationalized health care is not a threat; it is when you are ill that the system is a risk to your well-being:
- Britain's national health board has determined that a year of life is worth $35,000.
- If a life-saving drug or procedure would cost more than that, the British health care system can deny a patient that treatment.
That is all they know because they don't believe in incentives. They don't believe in markets. They don't believe in entrepreneurs. Instead of a government controlled system, Goodman recommends health care reform that:
- Allows individuals to determine their own medical care.
- Creates insurance that is patient-centered and can be taken job to job by an employee.
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THE RYAN PLAN
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"Having the government compete against the private sector is kind of like my seven-year-old daughter's lemonade stand competing against McDonalds"
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
Ryan argues that providing every American with a tax-free voucher specifically for the purchase of health insurance not only levels the playing field, but puts consumers in the position to make the health care choices that make sense to them.
- The Midwest lawmaker's Roadmap plan allows every American except those eligible for Medicare or military health care the option to receive a $2500 refundable tax credit for individuals and $5000 for families.
- The individual or family could apply the tax credit either to the purchase of an employer-sponsored plan or to another option that suits the individual/family.
- Employers who continue to provide health coverage can continue to claim contributions as a business expense deduction.
The congressman would also allow individuals to utilize the refundable tax credit toward the purchase of health insurance -- in any state. This is probably the most controversial part of the Ryan bill, as most states currently have insurance regulations that are favorable to in-state businesses. As one business leader in the state has said, "Health plans sold in Wisconsin but regulated in other states are not in the best interests of Wisconsin businesses and consumers." [half true]
Obviously, a lot of disentanglement would have to take place there involving regulations that have taken root over the years in all 50 states, but this is true consumer impowerment long overdue...
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Cass Sunstein's despicable ideas on regulating the internet
Obama's new regulatory czar and the Democratic Congress are looking to stifle criticism of Obama on the internet.
Sunstein's book is a blueprint for online censorship as he wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to make it easier to sue for spreading "rumors." Smith notes that bloggers and others would be forced to remove such criticism unless they could be "proven". [snip]
We should note that another step is being taken by Congress that would chill free speech on the internet. Representative Linda Sanchez from California is behind the Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act, an effort to impose regulations on the internet.
We should all question the motives of the lawmakers supporting such a constitutionally vague bill which would make just about any criticism made by blogs subject to fines or imprisonment.
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AP's Hyperbole Masquerades as Journalism
The headline startles the reader by screaming out "Powerful weapons found in Northwest drug raids." One immediately imagines an image of dozens of high powered and dangerous guns, those above and beyond the norm, in the hands of these felonious drug dealers. One imagines enough guns to arm an army with the police sorely out numbered.
But, when the story is read in its entirety, it becomes obvious that "powerful weapons" turns into one high powered pistol, the rest being your average, everyday firearms seen all over the place. Is 23 guns such a monumental amount from raids that took place over a large swath of the Pacific Northwest?
Now, there is no question that Mexican drug violence is getting worse and has spilled across the border into our country. There are a lot of troubles here, to be sure. But this story is filled with hyperbole that makes a mockery of the real troubles going on and is a perfect example of fitting in hyperbole where facts are needed.
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"A free people ought to be armed."
George Washington
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Death of the Race Card?
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The election of President Obama was one secured by the white vote.
This past election has shown that we are not divided racially, but politically. When push comes to shove, a liberal will not vote for a conservative, and a conservative will not vote for a liberal. The source of optimism for this past election is that the truth has surfaced: racism is no longer prevalent in America.
It is time for Americans to turn the final page on "the race card" and live out Dr. Martin Luther King's, "I Have A Dream" speech, in which he states,
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Let's stand on the solid ground of truth and look at the reality of America's greatness. It was not a chauvinistic nation that took Governor Sarah Palin to great heights, but drive. It was not a chauvinistic, racist nation that took Oprah Winfrey from poverty to wealth, but her strong determination. While both women may have met prejudiced individuals along the way, they were not hindered by a nation that practices racism as a whole. [or, like Obama, they wouldn't be where they are.]
Let us turn the final page on affirmative action. It does not respect rugged individualism, the spirit that defines America. Instead, affirmative action lumps individuals into groups and tacitly yet outwardly says, "You do not have the brains or the ability to stand on your own two feet and accomplish anything because of the color of your skin."
Too often the far left, for political purposes, sets a racist picture of America in order to win the minority vote. They label conservatives as racist for not adhering to racist ideologies such as affirmative action. The conservative's respect for every person's individuality shows true understanding of the American spirit and way of life. A black man's election is the culmination of this conservative truth: Racism is no longer prevalent in America. Ideology is...
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Palin's audacity of the unconventional
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I don't know if Sarah Palin intends to run for president in 2012. Certainly, resigning her job as Alaska's governor is a politically unconventional way of doing it.
But whereas pundits have now almost uniformly written her off, 70% in a new USA Today/Gallup poll say Palin's resignation has "no effect" on their opinion of her. Of the remainder, 9 percent say they now see her "more favorably"... [snip]
So stepping down from a job in which you are no longer realizing your ideals to reconnect with family and self is not necessarily political suicide.
But doing what everyone says you are supposed to do, compromising your values, and letting pundits and experts run your life is.
So far, Sarah Palin's audacity of the unconventional is playing just fine...
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Rumsfeld Decries 'Intellectual Dishonesty' of 'One-Sided Media Coverage'
The death of Vietnam War-era Robert McNamara unsurprisingly led liberal journalists to once again see the Iraq War as a Vietnam sequel. In a Sunday Outlook section piece in The Washington Post, former Post Pentagon reporter Bradley Graham promoted his new Donald Rumsfeld biography by asking when Rumsfeld will apologize like McNamara for the war that "many Americans see as a damnable misadventure, too costly in lives, money and national image."
Evidently, it doesn’t matter how Iraq’s democracy looks now, compared to Vietnam’s concentration camps and dictatorship.
Rumsfeld remains filled with a bitter sense that perceptions of the war and of his role in it have been badly distorted by one-sided media coverage, much of it based on self-serving accounts by State Department and National Security Council officials.
"The intellectual dishonesty on the part of the press is serious," ... "a strong incentive to be negative and dramatic" infused much of the coverage. It's a formula that works. It gets Pulitzers; it gets promotions; it gets name identification on the front page above the fold."
As an example, he noted accusations that Bush and Cheney lied about Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction in making the case for the invasion.
"They never say Colin Powell lied,"
Here is the furthest Graham will go to acknowledge that maybe Iraq is "salvageable," which is weak way of saying the war can be won:
Conditions in Iraq appear considerably more salvageable now than 2 1/2 years ago when Rumsfeld was replaced. If Iraq ultimately emerges as a stable country, the mistakes of the early years can be portrayed simply as the kinds of errors experienced in any conflict.
That would be an achievement, considering that the "one-sided media" seemed quite invested in a Vietnam-style debacle and a reinstatement of the Vietnam syndrome that would curb all American military "misadventures."
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USAT's Pathetic Pic At Story About Proposed Military Tobacco Ban
Call it "Yankee Imperialist Corrupts Impressionable Iraqi Youth":
Am I supposed to believe that USA Today had no other more relevant pictures they could have used? The fact that they went back to an AP file photo from 2007 is pretty strong evidence that USAT's page-fillers were looking to make a point.
Here are selected paragraphs from the related report by Greg Zoroya:
[These folks are being shot at, bombed and potentially the target of chemical weapons. Yeah, we've got to prevent them from smoking. {and the individual liberty for which they fight? Our accelerating rush toward collective fascism is truly alarming and will effect something of 'yours' in time if not stopped}]
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CNN Anchor's Smackdown: Bush Got Just as Warm a Welcome in Africa as Obama
On Saturday, CNN's Don Lemon was speaking live to correspondent Nkepile Mabuse who was reporting on location.
When Lemon asked whether the warm reception Obama received upon his arrival Friday was unprecedented, Mabuse caught him quite off guard with her response.
Pay particular attention to Lemon's body language [i.e., shock] when Mabuse says, 
"It's not unprecedented. When President Bush was here, you will remember, in February, there were people who were drumming, there were dances, and President Bush joined some of them"
(video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t NBer Jon):
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Kos, HuffPo Bloggers Compare Olbermann to Limbaugh, Cheney, Fox News
Olbermann is posting his lowest ratings of the year, down 26% from last year, and even liberals at the Huffington Post and Daily Kos are starting to disparage him... [snip]
It must be hard for Olbermann now that he doesn’t have George Bush to call a fascist or to compare to the Nazis. Crediting Obama with defeating Hezbollah in Lebanon’s elections just isn’t cutting it…
During last year’s campaign, liberal Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald noted the hypocrisy of Olbermann’s fire-breathing reaction to Bush over the FISA bill--“Now it begins to look like the bureaucrats of the Third Reich.”—versus his rationalization of Obama’s support of the same bill, praising Obama for “refusing to cower even to the left on the subject of warrantless wiretapping.”
KWolfman over at the [get ready for it:] Daily Kos chimed in on July 18 as well. Wolfman points out that Olbermann’s show is now devoid of politics and "consists entirely of Republican bashing".
He even went so far as to commit liberal heresy:All of a sudden MSNBC fell off the map. Even Fox was better. Even Fox.
Contrasting Olbermann’s struggles, Fox News is dominating more than ever. FNC has ranked fifth or higher for 24 straight weeks among all cable channels in prime time [despite not being available in the majority of 'middle' America], while MSNBC ranks seven spots below the Food Channel...
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