Fatal alliance

A recent article in The Washington Times by Sara A. Carter show the frightening importance of the alliance between Arabic terrorists and Mexican drug cartels. It documents how well known this dangerous situation has been for several years, for which no effective action had been taken by the Department of Homeland Security or local officials.

As an old drug-policy hand, I thought I had heard everything about it. But parts of the story were news to me and terribly disturbing. One example was the report that "approximately 20 Arab persons a week were utilizing the Travis County Court in Austin to change their names and driver's licenses from Arabic to Hispanic surnames." I do not claim that this horrendous problem is easy to deal with; it is not.

However, I do claim that some obvious first steps come to mind. . .

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070820/EDITORIAL/108200006/1013/editorial

From bad to worse for deficit

California

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance officials are estimating a California budget deficit next year of $14 billion, significantly larger than the $6.8 billion gap previously forecast by a state budget analyst, according to two sources who have spoken to the governor. The growing estimate increases pressure on Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to cut spending, increase taxes and possibly sell off public assets to close the budget hole.

[All the while continuing to pursue taxpayer funded 'free' health care.]

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/560995.html

Time's Selective Sense of Humor: Top Cartoons Target Only Conservatives

What do you know? Time magazine ran a list of the Top Ten Editorial Cartoons of 2007, and the only American political figures coming in for lampooning were . . . conservatives. Four of the cartoons were not explicitly political, but of those that satirized political figures, all were Republicans or conservatives:
[snip]
Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got better treatment at Time's hands than did conservatives. The only bad news that upsets the Iranian regarding his trip to NYC is his inability to get tickets to The Lion King. Aww. As for Democrats, not a cartoon in sight.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1690170_1690363,00.html

When Will They Ever Learn?

California

An agreement is rumored to be near for adoption of a $9 billion general obligation water bond. The bond will cost the general fund roughly $18 billion, including interest (or $600 million a year EVERY year for the next 30 years) and is being pushed at a time when the state is running an unprecedented deficit due to unsustainable increases in spending.

The measure is being touted as a response to increasingly tight water supplies, although only $3 billion – at most – will be used for surface water storage. This despite SIX other bond acts over the last 11 years that have totaled $17 billion, ALL promising to solve our water shortages.

Two other notes. First, nearly HALF of our water is now being used to meet various environmental mandates. Although additional facilities are certainly needed, our current "crisis" is largely the product of environmental extremism. And second, $7.1 billion from the two water bonds approved by voters last November still has not been appropriated.

http://www.carepublic.com/blog.html?blog_id=204&frompage=latestblog&domain=tom_mcclintock

UK chooses 'most ludicrous laws'
A little-known law which prohibits people dying while in the Houses of Parliament has been voted the UK's most ludicrous piece of legislation. The most absurd international law was judged to be in the US state of Ohio, where it is illegal to get fish drunk. (Snip) the list included legislation against naming a pig Napoleon in France, driving while wearing a blindfold in Alabama and unmarried women parachuting on a Sunday.
[methinks that last may have something to do with the wearing of skirts back in the day - note that it was evidently A-OK on Saturdays!]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7081038.stm

Baghdad-Area Surge Operations Garner More Success

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2007 – Ongoing U.S. military efforts to disrupt insurgent operations in and around Baghdad are garnering continued success, a senior military officer posted in Iraq said today. “It is just evident that the surge was the right thing to do,” Grigsby said. Overall attacks in Baghdad have decreased dramatically since the surge took hold, he said.

“We are continuing to kick the insurgents’ butt each day,” Grigsby said.

Related operations to date have resulted in the killing of 128 insurgents and the capture of almost 500 suspected extremists, Grigsby said, 25 of whom are considered to possess high informational value. The operations also disabled 119 roadside bombs and seized 43 weapons caches the colonel said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48410

Active, Reserve Components Meet November Recruiting Goals

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2007 – All military components met their recruiting goals in November, Defense Department officials said here yesterday. It was the sixth month in a row that all services made their recruiting goals, officials said.
[snip]
On the active-duty side, the Marine Corps made 108 percent of its recruiting goal, accessing 2,444 recruits against a goal of 2,263. [] The Navy made 100 percent of its goal of 2,732 recruits, and the Air Force met its goal of 1,836. [] The Air National Guard and Army National Guard easily made their November goals at 133 percent and 116 percent, respectively. [] The Air Force Reserve made 100 percent of its enlistment quota of 558; the Navy Reserve made 100 percent of its goal of 895; and the Marine Corps Reserve made its goal of 572.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48381

The War on Zionism

Post Annapolis, the Palestinian Authority made it crystal clear that it will never recognize Israel as a "Jewish state". Furthermore, it made it crystal clear that it will not compromise on Jerusalem by making it a capital offense to do so. Yet negotiations continue. [?] Either Olmert doesn't believe the PA or what is more likely, he will still cut a deal where Israel is denied that recognition and will divide Jerusalem according to Arab demands.

Do not think for a moment that these entrenched Arab positions are negotiable. They aren't and never have been...

[i.e., any plan for peace requires parties - plural - who desire it]

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3900&cid=2&sid=1

UN Moving to Derail Fraud Investigations

The UN bureaucracy has once again acted to insulate itself from punishment for engaging in fraud that has cost the UN (and America, since America by far is the largest contributor to the United Nations) hundreds of millions of dollars. .
[snip]
The General Assembly is preparing to put an early end to an in-house panel that has exposed more than $600 million in tainted United Nations contracts and is currently investigating an additional $1 billion in suspect agreements.

The effort to scuttle the panel is not a budget matter so much as a political one, and it represents the continuing suspicion developing countries have about international intervention in their affairs.
[snip]
In its effort to curtail the task force’s work, Singapore succeeded in winning over the powerful Group of 77, an assemblage representing the developing world that has grown over the years to 130 nations. [each of which get as influential a vote in the general assembly as any nation, regardless of size or contribution to the UN's budget - and as a block of 130, they're nigh unstoppable.]

"The investigations will obviously cease,” Mr. Appleton said Thursday, noting that the United Nations currently had no other unit “to address these matters.”

[The organization is UNsalvageable]
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/world/asia/21nations.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Senate Report: Over 400 Scientists Dispute Manmade Global Warming

According to a report just published at the United States Senate Committee on Environment, over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC.
[snip]
Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking." Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears "bite the dust." (LINK)
[snip]
This report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.

Though lengthy, readers are strongly encouraged to review this entire document to learn the truth about what real scientists - those not receiving Oscars, Emmys, and Nobel Peace Prizes [or grants]- think about this controversial issue.

[reminder: alarmists are in a hurry to get their laws on the books because time will increasingly prove prior predictions and scientific methods false - hence they're becoming shriller and shriller in demanding legislation now-right-now, for as we all know, a law that brings the government money and power once enacted is forever...]

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

ABC Does Three Consecutive Nights of Socialized Medicine

"Critical condition" in medical terminology means a patient has a high risk of death that could occur within the next 24 hours. So when you see "Critical Condition: Rx For America," sounds like something is in really bad shape, right?

No, it was just a promotional three-night series on ABC "World News with Charles Gibson" that ran from December 10-12 about health care. By the third night, Charles Gibson was even calling one example of socialized medicine a "system that works."

[what bias?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2007/12/13/abc-does-three-consecutive-nights-socialized-medicine

Immigration

[there...]
Tougher UK visa laws to curb illegal immigration

Britain is planning tougher visa controls, in an effort to tackle illegal immigration. Tourists from outside the EU currently get six- month visas. That will be cut to three months, and there may be a financial imposition as well. The proposals were unveiled by the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne:

"This is just part of a general tightening up of the system and it's part of a sweeping set of changes that we will be making to Britain's border security over the next 12 months."

Every person coming into Britain would have to pay a thousand pounds; families whose relatives outstay their visa risk losing the money.

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=460129&lng=1


[here...]
ACLU's War On U.S. Immigration Law
Prof. Nicholas Stix

While President George W. Bush, ICE, and Congress act as if the U.S. had no immigration laws and no borders, some heroic local officials and private organizations have nevertheless sought, against all odds, to enforce and uphold immigration law. And every time they have done so, the ACLU has been there to fight them, on behalf of those who are flouting our laws.

A study of the tactics of local ACLU chapters across the country and the national ACLU reveals a distinct, coordinated strategy of six components [...]

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3856&cid=1&sid=26

The Media: Bad Intelligence with No Confidence

[snip]
The media dangerously ignore the rest of the report, which indicates that Iran remains in the process of doing everything required to develop every aspect of their nuclear program save weapons, to which they can return on a dime whenever they wish. The MSM also disregard the July 2007 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee of Thomas Fingar, one of the co-authors of the latest NIE, which was wholly contradictory of the new downgraded danger assessment.

"Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution.

"We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons--despite its international obligations and international pressure. This is a grave concern to the other countries in the region whose security would be threatened should Iran acquire nuclear weapons."

This is all extraordinarily perilous. The world is not a sandbox in which all the little children play nicely, save for the American bully. The naïve notion the media broadcast that we could all just get along were it not for us throwing our weight around is a stone around our necks that hinders our ascendance both here and abroad.

As exhibited last week, when their righteous preening led to Bush-as-Pinocchio headlines in Tehran and smiles all around from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad and his Mullah bosses.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2007/12/05/media-very-selective-when-they-choose-believe-nie

Consumer spending explodes in November...

Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in November by the most in more than two years as incomes grew and shoppers took advantage of early holiday discounts. A bigger-than-forecast 1.1 percent increase in purchases followed a revised 0.4 percent gain in October that was more than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aISUBxdFxvBo&refer=news

Hmmm. Incomes up. Spending up. Where's that bleeping recession we keep hearing about?

[Answer: on TV... > ]


Investment Firm CEO: If We Have a Recession, Media Will Cause It

Craig Hester, CEO of Hester Capital Management, who during an interview with CNBC's Erin Burnett and James Cramer Friday spoke an inconvenient truth about media's impact on the economy that folks in the press sadly don't recognize as they disseminate pessimistic after pessimistic predictions often leading to people unnecessarily losing their jobs - or worse:

That's one thing about the economy, Jim. There's a lot of pessimism, and I think we're going to, through the media, if we're going to have a recession, it's going to be media generated as opposed from the economy. Things look very strong from what I can tell.

Thanks, Craig. We couldn't have said it any better.

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2007/20071128154245.aspx

USA Today Finds Dem-GOP Approval Margin Too Close; Finds 'Better' Data Elsewhere

Monday's USA Today piece by Richard Wolf on congressional and presidential approval ratings had this odd segue:

Although just 30% of those polled give Democrats in Congress good marks, they favor the party by a 53%-40% margin in next year’s elections. That represents a silver lining for Democrats, who achieved only a fraction of their ambitious agenda after taking over Congress.

It’s odd because Wolf doesn't indicate how many of those polled gave Republicans in Congress good marks. It's even odder that the 53%-40% election margin Wolf cited is nowhere to be found in the survey detail. Also, neither the article nor the survey detail have an external link to information relevant to this margin.

http://www.bizzyblog.com/2007/12/20/couldnt-help-but-notice-122007/

Commanders Tell Gates Iraq Policy Working, Urge Vigilance

[there...]
BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Field commanders deployed throughout Iraq gathered here today to tell Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates firsthand that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is working and to urge vigilance in seeing it through.
[snip]
But asked if there was one central message the commanders delivered, Simock said they’re confident the strategy in Iraq is showing results and don’t want to give up too soon.

“We’re winning; there is no doubt,” Simcock said. “I wanted to make sure we are winning here on the ground. Now we need to stay and finish the job. It ain’t done yet.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48329

Defense Department Notifies Congress of Furlough Moves

[here...]
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2007 – The Defense Department has officially notified Congress that the department will begin the furlough process for civilian employees of the Army, the Marine Corps and the combatant commands.
[snip]
“Without GWOT funding, only operations and maintenance funds in the base budget are available to cover war-related costs,” England said in the letter. “O&M funds also cover salary costs for a large number of Army and Marine Corps civilian employees.”
[snip]
England reminded legislators of a letter he sent Nov. 8 to explain what would happen without supplemental war funding. “I emphasized that without this critical funding, the department would have no choice but to deplete key appropriations accounts in order to sustain essential military operations around the world."
[snip]
“The furlough will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities,” England wrote. “More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our warfighters -- support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq"

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48387

Children used as shields in Pakistan mosque

[there]
Islamabad - - Women and children were being used as human shields by militants besieged in a mosque in Islamabad, the Pakistan government said on Thursday as security forces ratcheted up pressure on hundreds inside to surrender. Pakistan's Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said the few students who had quit the mosque spoke of a nightmare scenario for security forces trying to keep casualties down.

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Children_used_as_shields_in_Pakistan_mosque.html?siteSect=143&sid=7989851&cKey=1183646303000

Police action over TV film 'undermined free speech'

[{near} here...]
Police claimed that the Dispatches programme Undercover Mosque misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics through misleading editing. The programme featured undercover recordings from speakers alleged to be homophobic, antiSemitic, sexist and condemnatory of nonMuslims.

West Midlands Police rejected calls to take action against the preachers for hate speach - instead, they pursued a complaint against the film-makers, accusing them of undermining community relations.

But Ofcom, the media watchdog, threw out the police complaints. It found that the programme had “accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context”.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2902254.ece

Kasparov quits presidential race

The Russian opposition figure and former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, will no longer contest the presidential election next March. Mr Kasparov said his Other Russia bloc had faced difficulty arranging for its supporters to meet in Moscow - an official requirement for his candidacy. (Snip) Under Russian election law, presidential contenders who are not affiliated to one of four major parties must provide the details of two million supporters across the country.

[Oh, and are allowed zero air time on the state run television. The thing is rigged from front to back - all it needs now is Jimmy Carter...]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7140946.stm

'Changing border will be dangerous'

The defense establishment is fiercely opposed to a United Nations initiative to redraw Israel's border with Lebanon and ultimately revoke Israeli sovereignty over the Shaba Farms. A UN cartographer is expected to visit the Shaba Farms, also known as Mount Dov, in the coming weeks, sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to review the current border route along the 25-square-kilometer area located between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

[betrayed again: it's elevated land, previously used to shell Israel]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

WaPo Ignores Republican Criticism of Lack of Drilling in Energy Bill

Washington Post staffers Jonathan Weisman and Steven Mufson gaver readers of the December 7 paper an article on a "comprehensive [?] energy bill" that passed the House of Representatives without delving into Republican criticism that the bill lacks any provision to produce or procure more energy domestically, such as from interior and off-shore natural gas and oil reserves.

In the Washington Post front pager, not once do the words "drilling" or "natural gas" occur.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2007/12/07/wapo-ignores-republican-criticism-lack-drilling-energy-bill

Tougher UK visa laws to curb illegal immigration

Britain is planning tougher visa controls, in an effort to tackle illegal immigration. Tourists from outside the EU currently get six- month visas. That will be cut to three months, and there may be a financial imposition as well. The proposals were unveiled by the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne:

"This is just part of a general tightening up of the system and it's part of a sweeping set of changes that we will be making to Britain's border security over the next 12 months."

Every person coming into Britain would have to pay a thousand pounds; families whose relatives outstay their visa risk losing the money.

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=460129&lng=1

Mexico's President Calderon insults the United States

Mexico's President Calderon has delivered a slap in the face to the United States, and provided what amounts to an endorsement for his citizens violating the laws of the United States. Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light caught the significance of an official photo appearing on Mexico's Presidencia website, showing El Presidente meeting with Elvira Arellano, who illegally entered our country and who illegally used a fake social security number.

There can be no denying that this is a high honor for the citizen of any country. To confer such a distinction on someone who very publicly flouted the laws of a neighbor implies official endorsement of lawlessness. Steve asks the important question of how Mexico would regard a neighboring nation encouraging its citizens to flout Mexico's laws, such as its strict immigration laws.

This is not the behavior of an amigo.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/08/mexicos_president_calderon_ins.html

All I Want for Christmas Is Reporting on Al Sharpton's FBI Probe

Imagine for a moment that the FBI raided televangelist Pat Robertson's office for any reason whatsoever, much less say his 1988 presidential campaign. It'd be a story in the broadcast evening news programs, right?

So why the utter lack of interest in the December 12 federal probe into Al Sharpton's 2004 campaign? A review of Nexis for ABC, NBC, and CBS network news stories for December 12-18 yielded NOTHING on a December 13 FBI raid.

Here's an excerpt from the AP's reporting from December 13:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316660,00.html

Watching a Treasury Wreck...

California
According to news reports yesterday, behind closed doors the Department of Finance is privately admitting to a $14 billion shortfall between this and the next budget year. Assuming that this shortfall occurs AFTER blowing through the $4 billion reserve, that makes the actual operating deficit $18 billion.

The problem is not a revenue shortfall. The problem is that spending has increased 33 percent.

That’s how you wreck a state’s finances. It works every time.

[yet we keep returning the some bunch to Sacramento, year after year]

http://www.carepublic.com/blog.html?blog_id=210&frompage=latestblog&domain=tom_mcclintock

Women Attracted to Men in Sports Cars Cause Global Warming

As reported by the British Telegraph Monday (emphasis added throughout):

Women must stop admiring men who drive sports cars if they want to join the fight against global warming, the Government's chief scientist has urged. And he singled out women who find supercar drivers "sexy", adding that they should divert their affections to men who live more environmentally-friendly lives.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/16/ncar116.xml

Gates Seeks to Build on Positive Momentum in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates talked with Iraqi leaders and U.S. commanders here today to explore ways to maintain momentum built in recent months and continue to build on it.
[snip]
The secretary emphasized that, while weakened, terrorists in Iraq haven’t been beaten, and he cited a migration of terrorists to other parts of the country now experiencing an up-tick in violence. Among them is the northern city of Mosul, which he visited today.
[snip]
Thomas shared Gates’ assessment of the “real growth of the Iraqi security forces” and said the challenge now is to continue their development to the point where they can operate independently, without U.S. assistance.
[snip]
In fact, he reported progress in bringing down the overall troop number in Iraq from its current 166,000. The first units not to be replaced returned home in September, and 1st Brigade Combat Team will begin redeploying this month, he said.

[i.e., we already are withdrawing troops - but as success allows]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48327

The Media: Bad Intelligence with No Confidence

[snip]
The media dangerously ignore the rest of the report, which indicates that Iran remains in the process of doing everything required to develop every aspect of their nuclear program save weapons, to which they can return on a dime whenever they wish. The MSM also disregard the July 2007 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee of Thomas Fingar, one of the co-authors of the latest NIE, which was wholly contradictory of the new downgraded danger assessment.

"Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution.

"We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons--despite its international obligations and international pressure. This is a grave concern to the other countries in the region whose security would be threatened should Iran acquire nuclear weapons."

This is all extraordinarily perilous. The world is not a sandbox in which all the little children play nicely, save for the American bully. The naïve notion the media broadcast that we could all just get along were it not for us throwing our weight around is a stone around our necks that hinders our ascendance both here and abroad.

As exhibited last week, when their righteous preening led to Bush-as-Pinocchio headlines in Tehran and smiles all around from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad and his Mullah bosses.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2007/12/05/media-very-selective-when-they-choose-believe-nie

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

DITHERING DIPLOMATS

SENIOR officials of the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany met last Friday in London to discuss Iran's nuclear-weapons program. Once again, they failed to agree on meaningful sanctions against Iran, leaving the mullahs free to pursue their deadly policy.
[snip]
This pattern of failed diplomacy has gone on for over four years, starting with the efforts of Britain, France and Germany ("the EU-3") to talk Iran out of its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the EU-3's fascination with negotiations lost sight of the ultimate objective - preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons - and became an end in itself. For the EU-3, the process became more important than the substance, especially the unstated but obvious EU-3 agenda of dealing with a proliferation threat their way, rather than the 'American way'.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11062007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/dithering_diplomats_959824.htm?page=0

The March of Governments - and Those Who Will Oppose Them

LONDON -- The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute and other free-market Washington think tanks are known to many Americans. What isn't generally understood is that there has been an explosion of free-market think tanks around the world that are increasingly challenging the conventional view that government is the solution to society's problems. (Snip) In 1997, the Stockholm Network had five members; it now boasts more than 130 affiliated groups, stretching from Iceland to Armenia.

[Many paid attention to the lessons taught during the last century - the challenge is in their getting 'air time'.]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110010969

[meanwhile. in America...]

Scientists Send Letter to UN: Headed in entirely wrong direction

If a former vice president with absolutely no formal scientific training in climatology or meteorology makes a statement about the world coming to an end due to rising temperatures, media will fawn over him like teenyboppers in the presence of Elvis Presley.

Yet, if more than 100 scientists from around the world send a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations urging him and his organization to stop wasting time, resources, and money fighting a futile climate change battle, crickets will be heard in newsrooms around the country.

Yet, such was the case when scientists from around the planet signed their names to the following letter sent to Ban Ki-moon Thursday as nations were meeting in Bali to discuss preposterous and economically damaging ideas to address global warming:

[the subject line of which reads: "Re: UN climate conference taking the World in entirely the wrong direction" - read it > http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/reprint/open_letter_to_un.html, or if you're skeptical re: skepticism, start with the list of signatories - it's impressive > http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=164004.]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/12/14/scientists-send-letter-un-give-futile-climate-change-battle#comments

WaPo Ignores Republican Criticism of Lack of Drilling in Energy Bill

Washington Post staffers Jonathan Weisman and Steven Mufson gave readers of the December 7 paper an article on a "comprehensive [?] energy bill" that passed the House of Representatives without delving into Republican criticism that the bill lacks any provision to produce or procure more energy domestically, such as from interior and off-shore natural gas and oil reserves.

Weisman and Mufson noted in the lede that the bill will raise "fuel-efficiency standards" and "require increased use of renewable energy sources", but chose to share none of House Minority Leader John Boehner that the measure is a "no-energy" bill because it doesn't open any new U.S. acreage to oil and natural gas drilling, and will only raise, not lower, energy costs.

In the Washington Post front pager, not once do the words "drilling" or "natural gas" occur.

[the story is as 'comprehensive' as the bill - meanwhile, while we wait for the corn to grow, Saudi Arabia and Iran spend their petro dollars on what?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2007/12/07/wapo-ignores-republican-criticism-lack-drilling-energy-bill

Greens Gone Wild and Jobs Gone, period...

California

In the latest installment of “Greens Gone Wild,” the governor’s appointees on the Air Resources Board have voted to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions in the state to a maximum level of 427 million metric tons by 2020.

Since numbers like that have very little meaning without a reference point, consider this for perspective: Californians currently emit 500 million metric tons. That means that the economy will need to cut 73 million metric tons from its current level of emissions and then hold at that level until today’s kindergarteners are in college.

I don’t believe this figure includes exhaling, however. Thirty seven million Californians breathing produce an additional 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year (at 2.2 pounds per person per day). Just a drop in the bucket compared to the 2.4 billion metric tons that 6.6 billion human beings exhale annually worldwide.

But since they’re presumably not telling Californians to actually hold their breaths, one way of reaching the brave new world is to convince people not to drive cars. According to the ARB, an average car produces about 28 pounds of carbon dioxide per day, so the ARB target can be reached by removing just 15.4 million passenger cars from service. California only has 24 million passenger cars to take off the road in the first place, but the goal can be easily met if just two out of every three Californians quit driving. This will require some enforcement activity, of course, especially to keep former car owners from cheating by substituting ox carts.

“Now the rubber is hitting the road,” said an ecstatic Karen Douglas, the director of California Climate Initiative for Environmental Defense. And it won’t be long before the economy is hitting the skids and something else hits the fan.

No need to worry about jobs, though. The Air Resources Board is hiring.

http://www.carepublic.com/blog.html?blog_id=209&frompage=latestblog&domain=tom_mcclintock

Falling cow smashes van near Manson

A Chelan County fire chief says a couple were lucky they weren't killed by a cow that fell off a cliff and smashed their minivan. District 5 Chief Arnold Baker says they missed being killed by a matter of inches Sunday as they drove on Highway 150 near Manson. The 600-pound cow fell about 200 feet and landed on the hood of the minivan carrying Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda of Westland, Mich.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Falling_Cow.html

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

Commanders Tell Gates Iraq Policy Working, Urge Vigilance

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Field commanders deployed throughout Iraq gathered here today to tell Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates firsthand that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is working and to urge vigilance in seeing it through.
[snip]


But asked if there was one central message the commanders delivered, Simock said they’re confident the strategy in Iraq is showing results and don’t want to give up too soon.

“We’re winning; there is no doubt,” Simcock said. “I wanted to make sure we are winning here on the ground.”

He said he’s seen a 180-degree turnaround in his own area of operations around Fallujah during the last six months.

Army Col. Jon Lehr, commander of 2nd Infantry Divison’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Camp Taji, shared Simcock’s assessment, but said the commanders shared another important message with Gates.

“The tactical purpose of the surge is working,” he said. “Now we need to stay and finish the job. It ain’t done yet.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48329

Army Civilians Could Receive Furlough Notices by Christmas

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2007 – Some Army civilian employees may get layoff notices before Christmas, because $178 billion in emergency funds have not yet been approved to continue the war on terror, a senior Defense Department official said today.
[snip]
“Anyone who thinks that this is not a serious situation is simply misinformed or is ignoring the facts. We have tried to be as matter of fact as we can on this, but the reality is that we are using our program budget for FY 08 … to fund our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Whitman said.

If funding continues to be delayed, it could affect as many as 200,000 civilian employees and contractors, DoD officials reported earlier.

“In mid-February, the Army will run out of all of their O&M funding for the entire year, because they will have spent it on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. That will require some fairly significant and harsh actions by the department, specifically the Army. And the Marine Corps is only about a month behind them,” Whitman said.

Military installations soon will have to shut down operations and furlough civilian employees, terminate contracts, and move into what Whitman called a “warm” status.

“Facts are the facts. We’re trying to keep people as well informed as we can, but anybody that thinks that we have sufficient funding to go beyond what we have stated is just either misinformed or electing not to examine the facts,” he said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48313

'Changing border will be dangerous'

The defense establishment is fiercely opposed to a United Nations initiative to redraw Israel's border with Lebanon and ultimately revoke Israeli sovereignty over the Shaba Farms. A UN cartographer is expected to visit the Shaba Farms, also known as Mount Dov, in the coming weeks, sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to review the current border route along the 25-square-kilometer area located between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
[betrayed again: it's elevated land, previously used to shell Israel]
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

UK cancer survival rate lowest in Europe

Cancer survival rates in Britain are among the lowest in Europe, according to the most comprehensive analysis of the issue yet produced. England is on a par with Poland despite the NHS spending three times more on health care. Survival rates are based on the number of patients who are alive five years after diagnosis and researchers found that England was the fifth worst in a league of 22 countries. Experts blamed late diagnosis and long waiting lists.
[Europe's oldest socialized healthcare system]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ALDQAFHLW3BERQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/08/21/ncancer121.xml

WaPo Promotes Cuban 'Election' Fiction in News Brief

Add the Washington Post to the list of news agencies suspenseful over Fidel Castro's reelection to dictator. From the World in Brief digest on page A14 of the December 3 paper (emphasis mine):

In the first official indictation that he could remain Cuba's unchallenged leader, Fidel Castro was formally nominated Sunday as a candidate for the communist island's National Assembly, a requirement for continuing as president.

It remained unclear whether the ailing Castro would seek the post, but the nomination keeps his candidacy in play, providing a rare bit of suspense in a Cuban presidential election, analysts said...

While the Post culls its World in Brief feature from varying news wires, it could have reworked the wording to more accurately reflect upon Castro as an ailing dictator who's never faced a free and fair election, not a beloved leader emotionally rent at the notion of leaving public service.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-sheffield/2007/12/03/ap-covers-castro

Economy Grows at Fastest Pace in a Year

The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing.The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at an annual rate of 4 percent in the April-June quarter, significantly higher than the 3.4 percent rate the government had initially estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070830/D8RBBNS80.html

Fair Taxes? Depends What You Mean by ‘Fair’

At a recent fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett said that rich guys like him weren’t paying enough. Mr. Buffett was echoing a refrain that is popular in some circles. Last year, Robert B. Reich, labor secretary during the Clinton administration, wrote on his blog that “middle-income workers are now paying a larger share of their incomes than people at or near the top.”

These claims are enough to get populist juices flowing. The problem with them is that they don’t hold up under close examination.

The best source for objective data on the distribution of the tax burden is the Congressional Budget Office. The C.B.O. goes beyond anecdotes and bald assertions to provide hard data on who pays taxes. One can argue about the details of its methods, but there is no doubt that it is nonpartisan and that its tax analysts are some of the best in the business, and its numbers are so clear you'd think even politicians could get them right…

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/business/yourmoney/15view.html?ex=1342152000&en=0a71a061312a8cbf&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Border drug battle kills at least 22

The bloodiest gunfight in Mexico's five-month-old offensive against drug gangs killed 22 people, including five policemen, officials said. Shooting broke out yesterday in Sonora state, just south of Arizona, when state police backed by helicopters and soldiers swooped on a ranch where up to 50 heavily armed drug hitmen were holding abducted police officers and civilians, the state government said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21752708-23109,00.html

Pricing oil in dollars

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, neither of whom has ever demonstrated much economic sophistication, contended at the recent OPEC Summit that the weak dollar is at the root of high oil prices.
[snip]
While it is true that when the dollar declines relative to the euro and other currencies oil prices in dollars rise faster than in those other currencies, prices are determined by supply and demand. A move to price oil in terms of a market basket of other currencies or in euros would not in itself affect the price of oil.
[snip]
The recent decline in the value of the dollar seems to have unnerved some Americans and emboldened less economically sophisticated enemies, but it is a boon for American exporters, and underlies our continuing economic strength.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/11/pricing_oil_in_dollars.html

UN Discusses Global Warming in Spain as Snow Pummels Switzerland

Remember when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) traveled to Germany to discuss global warming with Chancellor Angela Merkel and was hysterically greeted with a late-season snowstorm that rocked Europe?
Well, as the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met in Valencia, Spain, last week to contemplate the supposedly catastrophic warming of the planet, Switzerland to the east received the most snow for this early in the season since 1952.

According to the report, Switzerland has not received such a strong start to its winter ski season since 1952, with the amount of snow being swept to the southern areas by the wind cited as a particularly interesting feature of the weather.

You really can't make this stuff up.

http://www.fasttrackski.co.uk/ski-news/switzerland/swiss-snow-makes-50-year-record-200711151407.php

UC weighs raises of 33% for all 10 chancellors

University of California regents are weighing a proposal to increase their top executives' pay by an average of 33 percent over the next four years, beginning with salary hikes this year of between 13 and 17 percent. The plan, which will be discussed in a closed committee meeting today, is drawing fire from critics who question the propriety of such increases in a tight budget year for the state. The full Board of Regents is expected to vote on the proposed raises Thursday at their meeting in Los Angeles.
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/487389.html

Fred Being Fred

On Saturday, a "Draft Fred Thompson" rally was held in the small, out of the way town of Cooksville, Tennessee. The media is reporting attendance for the get-together at 300. But the petition that attendees signed had more than 500 names attached. The media pulled a similar shrinking job on the meeting that Thompson held on Capitol Hill earlier this month with Republican members of Congress.
[I guess it never occurred to the professional journalists to check the petition]
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11365

"Redacted" stuns Venice

A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears. "Redacted", by U.S. director Brian De Palma, is one of at least eight American films on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months.
[yet if you draw a cartoon misrepresenting Mohamed or Islam in any way the world is outraged]
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL3190384420070831?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Fairness Doctrine

The attempt by Senate Democrats to target Rush Limbaugh over his "phony soldiers" remark backfired badly on Harry Reid team. But it was an early indicator of the extraordinary willingness of Democratic politicians to use their power to punish speech -- the political speech of critics and a preview of what the fight over the restoration of the "Fairness Doctrine" might look like. (Snip) At best, the Fairness Doctrine would be Affirmative Action for Air America.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/fairness_doctrine.html

Dead man winning
The voters of Union County in North Carolina, in their infinite wisdom, have elected a corpse. Okay, the position on the soil conservation board was not a headline-grabbing race. But, ahem, shouldn’t the board of elections have, umm, noticed?
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/15966282.htm

Farmworker Farce

The shortage simply doesn’t exist.

Time and again we hear from the agribusiness lobbyists about the pressing need for a continuous flow of foreign peasants to pick vegetables. The most sweeping claim was from lobbyist Sharon Hughes: “We are either going to have our food produced by foreign workers here in the United States, or the farming process will move to foreign countries.”
[snip]
Since only two percent of Americans still work in agriculture, many of the rest of us fall for this baloney. The research in this area, however, paints a very different picture. In a new paper, published by the Center for Immigration Studies, agricultural economist Philip Martin of the University of California, Davis, finds “little evidence” to support claims of a labor shortage on America’s farms.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjEwM2RmZTBmZDU2MzI1YTEyOTRkZjk4MWE2NDE0NjE=

Don't listen to Labour - tax cuts do work

All my adult life I have lived with Labour lies about tax cuts. Their cry is always the same. Tax cuts are impossible in a civilised society. They mean less revenue for the state, which means sacked teachers, unemployed doctors, fewer nurses. I am amazed anyone still takes such arrant twaddle seriously. Cuts in tax rates on individual and company income nearly always produce more revenue, not less.

[taxes kept by citizens & companies are invested, expecting a return. taxes taken by the government are merely consumed.]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/08/28/do2803.xml

Pricing oil in dollars

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, neither of whom has ever demonstrated much economic sophistication, contended at the recent OPEC Summit that the weak dollar is at the root of high oil prices.
[snip]
While it is true that when the dollar declines relative to the euro and other currencies oil prices in dollars rise faster than in those other currencies, prices are determined by supply and demand. A move to price oil in terms of a market basket of other currencies or in euros would not in itself affect the price of oil.
[snip]
The recent decline in the value of the dollar seems to have unnerved some Americans and emboldened less economically sophisticated enemies, but it is a boon for American exporters, and underlies our continuing economic strength.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/11/pricing_oil_in_dollars.html

Edwards Would Garnish Wages to Force People into Insurance Scheme

Welcome to the brave new world of John Edwards. One of the dirty little secrets of the debate over health insurance is that around 15 million younger adults choose not to carry any. Never fear, John Edwards will save these miscreants from their own folly by garnishing their wages and forcing them into his planned universal health care nightmare: Under the Edwards plan, when Americans file their income taxes, they would be required to submit a letter from an insurance provider confirming coverage for themselves and their dependents.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/11/edwards_would_garnish_wages_to.html

'Changing border will be dangerous'

The defense establishment is fiercely opposed to a United Nations initiative to redraw Israel's border with Lebanon and ultimately revoke Israeli sovereignty over the Shaba Farms. A UN cartographer is expected to visit the Shaba Farms, also known as Mount Dov, in the coming weeks, sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to review the current border route along the 25-square-kilometer area located between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

[betrayed again: it's elevated land, previously used to shell Israel]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Chinese see [US] military dependence on computers as weakness

Beijing - Diplomatic tension this week over reported Chinese computer attacks on German government networks comes as security experts warn that China is expanding its capacity to wage cyberwar as part of its rapid military buildup. U.S. and other foreign military analysts say that Chinese defense planners have identified the heavy dependence on computers of most modern military forces as a potential weakness that could be exploited in a conflict.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/29/news/cyber.php

Britain’s Anti-Semitic Turn

In August 2006, as the war in Lebanon raged, a gang of teenage girls confronted 12-year-old Jasmine Kranat and a friend on a London bus. ''Are you Jewish?'' they demanded. They didn’t hurt the friend, who was wearing a crucifix. But they subjected Jasmine, a Jew, to a brutal beating—stomping on her head and chest, fracturing her eye socket, and knocking her unconscious. (Snip) According to the police, Jews are four times more likely to be attacked because of their religion than are Muslims.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_anti-semitism.html

Forget about songs under Sharia

Marc Sheppard adapts a beloved song from The Sound of Music to discuss Sharia Law. But he missed one particularly apt element of that code of behavior. Sweetness & Light calls our attention to the prohibition of music itself, at least north of te border.

Today’s lesson comes from the Ifta Department of the Canadian Council of Muslim Theologians:

Is it permissible to play music/instruments and songs?
Answer [snip]

The use of the drum is allowed on the occasion of a wedding, wedding feast (walimah) and both days of Eid. This is concerning the drum which has no tinkle. The drum which has the tinkle is not permitted to be used. Playing of all other instruments is not allowed.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5854

Iraqi civilian killings drop sharply in November

BAGHDAD - The number of civilians killed in violence throughout Iraq fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to government statistics obtained by Reuters on Friday. The data showed 538 civilians were killed in November, down 29 percent from October. The statistics are compiled by the health, interior and defense ministries, and represent the best Iraqi count of the bloodshed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL30676226

[test text 'small']

Safari two-step with Source Article tag

     The Pew Research Center finds there has been a dramatic, double-digit jump in the percentage of Americans who believe that the military effort in Iraq is going well. You are the Washington Post. How do you play the story?:

a. You run a front-page story headlined "Study Finds Surge in Positive Public View of War Effort"; or

b. You run a story on page A10 headlined "Military Progress Doesn't Make War More Popular."

     Of course the correct answer is "b." As Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters noted, WaPo managed not only to bury the story, but to put a gloomy headline on the news. Jules Critteden details how MSNBC spins the Pew story in similar fashion [follow links]
     Both organizations are marching in the proud MSM footsteps of the New York Times. When earlier this month news came that the US-led MNF had successfully routed al Qaeda completely out of Baghdad, the Times buried the story fathoms deep . . . on A19.
Source Article

Firefox two-step posting [4 with links]

The Pew Research Center finds there has been a dramatic, double-digit jump in the percentage of Americans who believe that the military effort in Iraq is going well. You are the Washington Post. How do you play the story?:

a. You run a front-page story headlined "Study Finds Surge in Positive Public View of War Effort"; or

b. You run a story on page A10 headlined "Military Progress Doesn't Make War More Popular."

Of course the correct answer is "b." As Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters noted, WaPo managed not only to bury the story, but to put a gloomy headline on the news. Jules Critteden details how MSNBC spins the Pew story in similar fashion [follow links]

Both organizations are marching in the proud MSM footsteps of the New York Times. When earlier this month news came that the US-led MNF had successfully routed al Qaeda completely out of Baghdad, the Times buried the story fathoms deep . . . on A19.

[also smallest above, small here {albeit Times v Ariel]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/11/28/msm-spins-surge-publics-positive-view-war-effort#comments

Safari two-step post [4 with links]

.
The Pew Research Center finds there has been a dramatic, double-digit jump in the percentage of Americans who believe that the military effort in Iraq is going well. You are the Washington Post. How do you play the story?:

a. You run a front-page story headlined "Study Finds Surge in Positive Public View of War Effort"; or

b. You run a story on page A10 headlined "Military Progress Doesn't Make War More Popular."

Of course the correct answer is "b." As Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters noted, WaPo managed not only to bury the story, but to put a gloomy headline on the news. Jules Critteden details how MSNBC spins the Pew story in similar fashion [follow links]

Both organizations are marching in the proud MSM footsteps of the New York Times. When earlier this month news came that the US-led MNF had successfully routed al Qaeda completely out of Baghdad, the Times buried the story fathoms deep . . . on A19.

['follow links' above = smallest, this note = small - too big in Safari, others?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/11/28/msm-spins-surge-publics-positive-view-war-effort#comments

Safari post -

[HTML paste+link-icon-add, Compose formatting =]
PAULINE Hanson says she will run on similar policies to those that won her a federal election a decade ago when she vies for a Queensland Senate seat at the upcoming election. Ms Hanson said "nothing's changed" with her policies.

"We need to have a look at our immigration levels and I'd like to have a look at putting a moratorium on any more Muslims coming into Australia," Ms Hanson said yesterday. "I think that we need to look at getting out of the 1951 convention of refugees, and not being forced into taking refugees in this country who are incompatible with our lifestyle," she told ABC Radio.

[couldn't "quote" in Safari!!! - Fixed in Firefox.]

The 53-year-old won the seat of Oxley as an Independent at the 1996 election after being expelled from the Liberal Party because of her views on immigration [how 'tolerant']. She went on to launch One Nation, which grabbed a swag of seats at the Queensland state election.


[but don't people have a right to move to Australia if they want to?]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22250746-953,00.html

Firefox post -

[Html paste + link-icon-add, format in Compose =]

PAULINE Hanson says she will run on similar policies to those that won her a federal election a decade ago when she vies for a Queensland Senate seat at the upcoming election. Ms Hanson said "nothing's changed" with her policies.

"We need to have a look at our immigration levels and I'd like to have a look at putting a moratorium on any more Muslims coming into Australia," Ms Hanson said yesterday. "I think that we need to look at getting out of the 1951 convention of refugees, and not being forced into taking refugees in this country who are incompatible with our lifestyle," she told ABC Radio.

The 53-year-old won the seat of Oxley as an Independent at the 1996 election after being expelled from the Liberal Party because of her views on immigration [how 'tolerant']. She went on to launch One Nation, which grabbed a swag of seats at the Queensland state election.

[but don't people have a right to move to Australia if they want to?]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22250746-953,00.html

Editorial: Ditch government planners

Centralized government planning is almost always a disaster, says Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole, who warns of the dangers of letting government bureaucrats take more and more control over Americans’ lives. A generation ago, we laughed at the hilariously predictable failures of the Soviet Union’s five-year plans. Now we’re allowing our own public planners, two-thirds of whom work for state and local governments, to design our communities, manage our land and natural resources, design our transportation and energy grids, run our health care system and oversee much else. Big mistake.

[add-format note Compose]
http://www.examiner.com/a-1029199~Ditch_government_planners.html

Iraqi civilian killings drop sharply in November

BAGHDAD - The number of civilians killed in violence throughout Iraq fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to government statistics obtained by Reuters on Friday. The data showed 538 civilians were killed in November, down 29 percent from October. The statistics are compiled by the health, interior and defense ministries, and represent the best Iraqi count of the bloodshed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL30676226

Iraqi civilian killings drop sharply in November

.
BAGHDAD - The number of civilians killed in violence throughout Iraq fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to government statistics obtained by Reuters on Friday. The data showed 538 civilians were killed in November, down 29 percent from October. The statistics are compiled by the health, interior and defense ministries, and represent the best Iraqi count of the bloodshed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL30676226