Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Grim Milestone for Network News: Under 20 Million Viewers

 
The three prime-time network news shows failed to reach 20 million viewers for the first time ever. That's a 5.4% drop from the 2006 low point. Even worse, the most attractive demographic (25-54) failed to reach 6 million viewers, which is down roughly 15% (hat tips: Bizzy Blog and Media Bistro).

You need to put some ice on that, Brian and Katie?

Any further hemorrhaging and we'll start hearing about a "Fairness Doctrine" for television.

Flashback: More Real News the MSM Won't Report

 
June 29, 2006, dateline Washington:

The 500 munitions discovered throughout Iraq since 2003 and discussed in a National Ground Intelligence Center report meet the criteria of weapons of mass destruction, the center's commander said here today.

"These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute weapons of mass destruction," Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee... The munitions found contain sarin and mustard gases...

There has been a call for a complete declassification of the National Ground Intelligence Center's report on WMD in Iraq... Much of the classified matter was slated for discussion in a closed forum after the open hearings this morning.

500 WMDs found in Iraq since 2003? That's odd...

...I never read that in the New York Times. Maybe they withheld that information for my own good.

Someone's got a crush on Hillary

 
Barrack Obama's not the only Democratic candidate with a video camera-equipped fan!


Don Surber: "Somehow I don’t think she will appreciate the 'help.'"

Caution: it's rated PG-13.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Nuclear Terrorism News that the MSM Refuses to Report

 
Columnist Paul Krugman is a member of a not-so-elite group of New York Times columnists that despise George W. Bush. He, along with his posse -- Rich, Dowd, Herbert, Friedman, Miller, Keller, and Schmitt -- love deriding the administration as "The Bushies" and have hammered every policy imaginable. In fact, Bushies is so uproariously funny, the Times crew has used it nearly 150 times. Talk about unbridled hilarity!

Krugman uses another clever device to mock policy: a trademark symbol after "Global War on Terror".

You see, the Iraq war, although Bush insists that it is part of a Global War on Terror™, a fight to the death between good and evil, is not like America's other great wars -- wars in which the wealthy shared the financial burden through higher taxes and many members of the elite fought for their country.

Krugman, in his traditional verbose style, mocks the concept. Never mind the global jihad that has claimed countless lives of innocents in dozens of countries throughout the world.

The real problem with Krugman's approach is that it fails to consider actual news that the Times refuses to report.

Scientists beg to differ with Krugman's view. On June 12, Agency France Presse -- not exactly a mouthpiece for right-wing views -- reported on an ominous worldwide conference of security experts.

Security experts from around the world meeting here Monday warned of the threat of a terrorist nuclear attack, and called for renewed efforts to crack down on black market sales of nuclear and radioactive material...

...The meeting, lasting nearly a week, will include conferences on smuggling trends and detection of nuclear material around the world, border security, improvised nuclear devices and "dirty bombs," bombs that spread radiation.

Experts said there is a strong possibility of a terrorist nuclear attack on the United States following the September 11 attacks.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a publication that operates the "Doomsday Clock" to signal the chances of a nuclear catastrophe, currently has the clock set at five minutes to midnight... Scientists at the bulletin last year moved the hand forward from seven minutes to midnight, saying that the likelihood is high because of terrorists on suicide missions looking for spectacular strikes.

Not to worry. Krugman and the rest of the geniuses at the Times know far more about the risks than the club of nuclear physicists and a global cadre of security experts.

* * *

Democrats and the mainstream media pretend that this catastrophic risk doesn't exist. By dismantling the Patriot Act, hampering the NSA's international terrorist surveillance, revealing the SWIFT tracking program, and hamstringing the war effort, they hasten the day that nuclear devices are unleashed in American cities.

On that day, any real-time polling will show that a large percentage of Americans have converted to the Republican Party. And Paul Krugman, if he's still alive after the attacks, will be singing a very different tune indeed. And I can guaran-damn-tee he won't be typing a trademark symbol after War on Terror.

Update: More good news for Krugman. LGF links to a report that an Al Qaeda cell is "either in the U.S. or on the way".

Monday, July 09, 2007

Syria Prepares for War

 
The New York Sun reports that Syria is preparing for an all-out war against Israel:

If Israel doesn't vacate the strategic Golan Heights before September, Syrian guerillas will immediately launch "resistance operations" against the Golan's Jewish communities, a top official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told the New York Sun in an interview.

The Baath official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld, said Damascus is preparing for Israeli retaliation following Syrian guerilla attacks and for a larger war with the Jewish state in August or September. He said that in the opening salvo of any conflict, Syria has the capability to fire "hundreds" of missiles at Tel Aviv.

"Syria passed repeated messages to the U.S. that we demand the return of the Golan either through negotiations or through war. If the Golan is not in our hands by August or September, we will be poised to launch resistance, including raids and attacks against Jewish positions (in the Golan Heights)," the Baath official said.

Sounds like yet another situation that Democrats would prefer to ignore. After all, the Middle East isn't very strategic.

New York Sun: Syria Threatens Israel on Golan Heights

What's Hidden in the iPhone's 'Fine Print'?

 
Telecom Analyst Bruce Kushnick has inspected the iPhone's terms of service and offers some surprising revelations (emphasis mine):

1) iPhone Requires a 2-Year Contract with AT&T.

2) Expensive: Requires $2,280, Over $1,730 in Wireless Costs.

3) Double Billing. You and the Caller Both Get Charged for the Same Call.


4) All Use of the Networks Are Always Rounded Up to the Nearest Kilobyte or Minute.

...This practice is now standard and is anti-competitive. In the 1990’s, phone companies, to be competitive, created “6 second billing”, where the call was rounded to the nearest 1/10th of a minute. This change adds 15+% to the average bill. Moreover, the companies now have all gone to full minute billing, full kilobyte billing, so that they can make an extra minute on almost every transaction...

5) Customers Are Billed for “Network Errors” and “Network Overhead".

6) Billed Even Though the Call Doesn't Go Through.

7) Bogus Fees Added to the Bill: Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge

The “Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge” is a made-up charge that should have been included in the cost of service instead of a separate line item. Most carriers are charging this fee, even though it is not government mandated or a legitimate tax. By making it a separate line item, the phone company gets more money and doesn’t have to include this line item in the advertised cost of service. According to AT&T:

"The Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge is a charge assessed by AT&T and is not a tax or government-mandated charge. This charge is subject to change from time to time as the cost of compliance changes.... The purpose of the charge is to defray AT&T's costs associated with payment of fees and compliance with various initiatives imposed by the government. Please note that costs may be incurred and charged prior to initiation of any of the respective services."

8) $175.00 Termination Fee.

9) International Messages Are Charged Additional Fees as Are Files Over 300Kbps.

...While it cost[s] nothing extra to send an email overseas using the Internet, AT&T has decided that all messages outside the US or larger than 300 K should cost extra:

“International messages not included. Charges for international messages sent from the U.S. are 20¢ for Text Messages and 50¢ for Picture/Video Messages. Additional charges for premium messages and content apply. Messages over 300 KBs billed an additional 50¢/message.”


10) Over Your Quota: Get Gouged: 40¢ Per Minute and 69¢ Roaming Offnet.

11) The Services Are Not Secure and Can't Block Your Phone Number.

12) The Current Mobile Email Service Doesn't Support Attachments.

13) Prohibited Uses and “Unlimited” Sales Hype.

Even though the service is called "unlimited" they are simply using that word as a marketing concept, not an actual service description. You can't use the service for VOIP and worse "unlimited plans cannot be used for uploading, downloading or streaming of video content (e.g. movies, tv), music or games." Here are just some of the restrictions [prohibited services]:

* With server devices or with host computer applications, including, without limitation, web camera posts or broadcasts, continuous jpeg file transfers, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine applications...
* for voice over ip...
* in conjunction with wwan or other applications or devices which aggregate usage from multiple sources prior to transmission...
* Except for content formatted in accordance with at&t's content standards, unlimited plans cannot be used for uploading, downloading or streaming of video content (e.g. movies, tv), music or games. Furthermore, unlimited plans (except for dataconnect and blackberry tethered) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device

14) Service Is Not Intended to Provide Full-Time Connections: Unlimited is Hype - Don’t use the service too much or the phone company can terminate your service.


15) Wi-Fi Service is Limited - "To ensure that the Wi-Fi Service is not being used fraudulently, AT&T limits your usage of the Wi-Fi Service to 150 uses per month" ...Does that mean that if you lose signal a few times during one session, or you are traveling and go between ‘hot spots’ you can rack up lots of ‘uses’?

16) “Offnet” Restrictions - If you have a service and you happen to call other ‘offnet’ services, including wireline phones, or non-AT&T subscribers, you have to ‘limit’ your use, be charged or be terminated.

17) Plan Goobly-gook - ...There are plan fees, taxes and surcharges, roaming fees, text fees, Night and Weekend Minutes, Mobile to Mobile Minutes, Anytime Minutes and Rollover Minutes, EDGE/GPRS and BroadbandConnect, offnet, AT&T Video clips, Data Connect Unlimited, WI-FI CONNECT, constraints on ‘unlimited plans including “20% of 6 Megabits offnet”, “150 uses of Wi-Fi”, and other restrictions...

18) Comparing US and Other Broadband Countries: America Is being Laughed At.

Why did iPhone get deployed on a slow, closed network? That answer may not be known, but it is clear that iPhone is being deployed on an old-technology network, and is neither state-of-the-art nor fast. Here’s some info about the [wired] networks... "The median U.S. download speed now is 1.97 megabits per second — a fraction of the 61 megabits per second enjoyed by consumers in Japan ... Other speedy countries include South Korea (median 45 megabits), France (17 megabits) and Canada (7 megabits)."

19) The Upcoming Wireless Spectrum Auctions - The upcoming 700 MHz wireless spectrum auctions are underway [and] the bottom-line is [that] America needs open wireless networks, and it should be clear to anyone who is considering buying an iPhone that the AT&T networks should not be the only network for this innovative product.

These types of anti-innovation restrictions make it clear why the incumbent telcos shouldn't be permitted to bid on the newly liberated 700MHz spectrum.

Go to Save the Internet now and take action.

Update: Tim Wu has more.

Update on 8/18/07: Check out the $5,000 iPhone bill... for a month's service!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Let the Mudslinging Begin! MSM attacks Fred Thompson

 
Ed Morrissey says that "it's easy to tell when a candidate has the potential to do well in a campaign -- the opposition starts throwing mud as early as possible."

Well, the public relations arm of the Democratic National Committee -- better known as the mainstream media -- has begun its anti-Fred Thompson campaign. Someone at high levels is worried, because the effort seems broad and well-coordinated. Consider:

* The Los Angeles Times publishes Thompson's links to a Washington-based, pro-abortion organization.

* The New York Times attacks Fred Thompson's wife, asking "Is America ready for a president with a trophy wife?" (Paul Hinderaker responds, "I don't see why not. In 2004, America came fairly close to electing a trophy husband." Heh!).

* Today, nearly a hundred papers are running articles that link Thompson to Watergate including:

      o Fred was 'Nixon mole'

      o Nixon saw Thompson as 'dumb' ally

      o Thompson helped Nixon on Watergate

      o Nixon thought Fred Thompson was "Dumb as Hell"

...President Richard Nixon and his top aides viewed the fellow Republican as a willing, if not too bright, ally, according to White House tapes.

...Mr. Thompson played a behind-the-scenes role that was very different from his public image three decades ago. He comes across as a partisan willing to cooperate with the Nixon White House's effort to discredit the committee's star witness, former White House counsel John Dean.

As of this morning, there were 97 news articles describing Thompson's links to Nixon.

Someone at the DNC must be worried -- very worried -- about Fred Thompson.

Update: Charlie Foxtrot notes another egregious hit-piece from Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press:

Thompson Strong on Style, Not Substance

Fred Thompson's easygoing, no-nonsense style is clearly his strength and undoubtedly has helped him soar in presidential polls. It may only get him so far.

Sooner or later, the all-but-declared candidate will have to answer the question: What else do you offer?

What indeed? How about his own, well-written blog and a series of opinion pieces that offer blunt assessments on terrorism, illegal immigration, energy policy, and taxation? Does that count as "substance"?

If the Associated Press gets any more tilted they'll have to change their logo.

Mass-murderers or Republicans: what's the difference?

 
"It doesn't matter whether they're Republicans or whether they're terrorists – she will stand up to defend this country..." -- Christie Vilsack, wife of ex-Gov. Tom, during her introduction of Hillary Clinton in Des Moines (hat tip: Charlie Foxtrot)

Saturday, July 07, 2007

The Barrett Report: What is Hillary Hiding?

 
The New Media Journal is featuring a seven part series entitled "The Fraudulent Senator." In it, journalists Joan Swirsky, Justin Darr, A.J. DiCintio, Noel Sheppard, and Frank Salvato painstakingly dissect "the single biggest incident of campaign finance fraud in US history and a coordinated cover-up that stretched from the halls of justice to Capitol Hill to the mainstream media."

Haven't heard about it? Put simply, the subject of their investigation is Hillary Clinton, which explains the coverage vacuum. The series scrutinizes Clinton's gala fundraising concert arranged by businessman Peter Paul, an event that the Federal Election Commission calls "Event 39" in its investigatory documents.

I'll cover the entire series in a later post. There's a bit of detail that I'd like to expand upon first. In Part I of the series, we read:

[Hillary] has acknowledged accepting contributions from the influence peddling, recently indicted, uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff... There is also... the Clinton campaign-finance scandal of the late 1990s, where millions of dollars of illegal Chinese campaign cash found its way into Democratic Party and Clinton legal defense fund coffers. Worse, American missile-guidance technology was given to Beijing...


Clinton and fundraisers linked to the Chinese
 
That is not to omit the recently released 400-page Barrett Report. In 1995, while Independent Counsel David Barrett was investigating the president’s Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros for various crimes, he discovered that the president had used the Internal Revenue Service (headed by Hillary’s college friend, Margaret Milner Richardson), the Justice Department (headed by... Janet Reno), and the White House... to audit political enemies, particularly the women who had accused the president of sexual harassment and even rape.


Henry Cisneros
 
...Democrats have tried for 10 years to have the parts of the Barrett Report that dealt with these matters redacted, and they succeeded. But Republican Senators Charles Grassley, Chairman of the House Finance Committee, and James Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, have both stated publicly that they are determined to get the entire report released.

The redacted portions must be pretty explosive because as columnist Tony Snow has noted, the “report is a bombshell, capable possibly of wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects.”

Even now, the Barrett Report remains redacted; in effect, significant portions have been removed. You and I -- the American taxpayers -- spent over $20 million on this investigation and are unable to see the complete results.

With Hillary Clinton positioned for the presidency, isn't it time we demanded the release of the full report?

"WHAT WE WERE PREVENTED FROM INVESTIGATING"


The press release announcing the report read (PDF):

Today the United States Court of Appeals for the District for Columbia Circuit, Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels, approved the release of the Final Report of the Independent Counsel in re: Henry G. Cisneros. The Report can be found on the Office’s website at http://barrett.oic.gov.

This has been a long and difficult investigation. It is my hope that people will read the entire Report and draw their own conclusions. An accurate title for the Report could be, “WHAT WE WERE PREVENTED FROM INVESTIGATING.”

After a thorough reading of the Report it would not be unreasonable to conclude as I have that there was a coverup at high levels of our government and, it appears to have been substantial and coordinated. The question is why? And that question regrettably will go unanswered. Unlike some other coverups, this one succeeded.

I recommend that people begin by reading the memorandum of Mr. John Filan, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division in the South Texas District (Appendix no. 16).

Has any Independent Counsel, ever, expressed such bitterness? The particulars of the investigation only make you shake your head.

APPENDIX 16


Appendix 16 of the report is titled Possible Improprieties by Assistant Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax):

After the prosecution case had been forwarded to District Counsel, several incidents occurred which have caused [investigators] to be highly concerned about possible improprieties... the case was pulled from the field with the apparent intent to "kill" it... and... improper disclosures have possibly taken place with... the Department of Justice in a further attempt to stop the case from being prosecuted... Our observations... are presented below:

1. Unprecedented Deviation from the Normal Review Process

...Sometime on or before January 15, 1997, District Counsel was informed by Chief Counsel's Office that the case was to be transferred to the National Office. District Counsel was told this was necessary due to the sensitive nature of the case, which required a "centralized review." District Counsel was directed to cease their review, box up the exhibits and mail it to Chief Counsel.

I am not aware of any other criminal tax cases that have been pulled from experienced District Counsel attorneys to be reviewed in Washington...

2. Apparent Failure to Consider Facts and Evidence

The decision to decline this case seems to have been made regardless of the evidence and facts... It is highly questionable and baffling as to why Chief Counsel's Office decided to extract a "sensitive" case from an experience District Counsel... and assign the... review to two attorneys... who do not review criminal tax cases on a regular basis...

...It was... apparent that they had received their direction to kill this case from... the outset.

Editor's note: 'The removal of a regional IRS investigation to Washington is "extremely unusual," according to a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Andrew McCarthy... "In my 20-year experience I am unfamiliar with any similar behavior... The reason for field offices is to work the cases, not have Washington work the cases."'

...In summary, Chief Counsel's Office has consistently failed to rely upon the evidence showing Cisneros' guilt...

3. Chief Counsel's Relationship with Defense Counsel

...Throughout [the] process, Chief Counsel has wholeheartedly accepted and endorsed the defense version of events... the "story" which has been created, quickly fall apart when compared to the facts, testimony and evidence gathered during the investigation... Chief Counsel exaggerates and mistates events to bolster the position they have taken. Their discussion mirrors the position put forth by Cisneros' Defense attorneys... Examples of this conduct abound and include the complete discounting of the evidentiary value of the recorded conversations...

4. Chief Counsel's Disclosures to DOJ, Tax Division

...[There was a] meeting... to discuss the Office of Independent Counsel's request to Attorney General Janet Reno for expanded authority in its investigation of Henry Cisneros... OIC informed Special Agent Lange of Attorney General Reno's initial written response to OIC's expansion request. The language used in Reno's response mirrors the language [Chief Counsel] Finkelstein has given to CID for declining the case... it... appears that the possible disclosure by Chief Counsel, of their intentions to decline the case, has potentially influenced Reno's decision. [Reno's] decision should have been made independently and without knowledge of any tax investigation.


Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and Janet Reno
 

In conclusion, we raise these issues for your consideration because we have serious concerns about the propriety of the actions that have taken place in the review of this case. We are not privy to nor do we wish to speculate about personal or political motivations for the conduct we have witnessed... we strongly feel that the conduct of Assistant Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) which preceded this declination needs to be examined.

In effect, the Attorney General at the time -- Janet Reno -- "limited investigators to one year of Cisneros's returns, and Justice Department officials failed to cooperate with [the] probe."

THE PROTEST


The conclusion of the protest from the Criminal Investigation Division (PDF) states:

This is a simple case that the defense counsel and Assistant Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) has convoluted and tried to make complex. All CISNEROS had to do was deposit all his income... Instead, CISNEROS lied to Hernandez, lied to Gonzalez, lied to the IRS, lied to the FBI, and lied to the Presidential transition team... the analysis of this case and the conclusions drawn by Assistant Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) are just plain wrong.

The New York Daily News places the fix in the lap of the Clintons.

Then-IRS Commissioner Peggy Richardson, a close friend of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was involved in efforts to quash the probe, a source close to the case alleged.

But Richardson's role was cut from Barrett's report, which went through 26 drafts, because Democratic law firm Williams & Connolly successfully pressured Barrett to remove a section of the report naming her, a source said... [the] firm represents Cisneros, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

The New York Sun also succinctly places blame for the coverup with the Clintons:

...[The Barrett Report] outlines a coordinated effort by Clinton administration officials to first block and then limit the probe as a way of taking pressure off an administration that was already beset by scandals...

Why were so many pages redacted? What was the cover-up to which Barrett alluded? What are they hiding?

YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE CAN PUBLISH THE ENTIRE BARRETT REPORT


Robert Novak says that any member of Congress can read -- and publish -- the entire Barrett Report.

...the question remains what three judges -- David Sentelle (D.C.), Thomas Reavley (Texas) and Peter Fay (Florida) -- blacked out in 120 pages worth of redactions. Even after the report is released, Barrett and his lawyers would face judicial sanctions if they disclosed anything that was redacted.

However, the judges have established an exception, or rather 535 exceptions, to the rule that nobody can see what has been redacted. Any member of Congress can read it merely by asking. Any such lawmaker, who believes American taxpayers should see the product of $23 million in expenditures, presumably could then publish the material without fear of legal sanction.

But will any senator or House member do it? Nobody is interested in further prosecution of Henry Cisneros, an exceptional public figure who might well have become the first Hispanic-American governor of Texas and perhaps even president of the United States. Rather, an unredacted Barrett report is an opportunity to observe how the Internal Revenue Service decides when to prosecute, a place where Congress until now has feared to venture.

Is it time to ask our Congressional Representatives for the entire Barrett Report?

With Hillary Clinton poised to take the Democratic nomination for President, Americans must be privy to the full report for which they paid in full. We demand the full disclosure of the Barrett Report.

Friday, July 06, 2007

The President should use Powerpoint!

 
Dean Barnett posted some thought-provoking graphs this morning.



Same deal. The Surge seems to be helping pacify Iraq. But that’s just the bird’s eye view. For a street level look at things, check out the reliably amazing reporting of Michael Yon on Operation “Arrowhead Ripper” in Baqubah...

The President needs to speak to the American people (and Congress) and show these graphs using Powerpoint slides that help reinforce the facts on the ground. The surge is working, thanks to the finest military in the world.

And the hard left bank of American politics can go suck an egg. For the umpteenth time.

Michelle Malkin vs. Susan Church

 
Michelle Malkin delivered a nice smackdown of Susan Church tonight on The O'Reilly Factor. The question we should ask each and every apologist for illegal immigration is:

Which laws are okay to break?

Thursday, July 05, 2007

The New York Times In Print & Online: Melting Down

 
The financial woes of the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) have been widely reported.

The stock price has melted faster than a scoop of ice cream in Michael Moore's jowls. And for the last fiscal year on record (2006), the Times lost a cool half billion dollars.

In doing some research on Alexa, I found some additional data regarding the Times' online presence.

In terms of traffic rankings, the Times is flirting with an all-time low after a precipitous drop over the last 18 months.

For management that permits a "newspaper" to censor, omit, and mislead its readers as much as the Times does, this can't come as a surprise.

The New York Times features glamor shots of terrorists

 
Email received today:

Dear friends,

Today's New York Times carries a review of a film called "Hot House" that goes inside Israeli prisons and examines the lives of Palestinian prisoners. We're not recommending the film or the review. But we do want to share our feelings with you about the beaming female face that adorns the article. You can see it here.

The film is produced by HBO. So it's presumably HBO's publicity department that was responsible for creating and distributing a glamor-style photograph of a smiling, contented-looking young woman in her twenties to promote the movie.

That female is our child's murderer. She was sentenced to sixteen life sentences or 320 years which she is serving in an Israeli jail. Fifteen people were killed and more than a hundred maimed and injured by the actions of this attractive person and her associates. The background is here.

Neither the New York Times nor HBO are likely to give even a moment's attention to the victims of the barbarians who destroyed the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and the lives of so many victims. So we would be grateful if you would pass along this link to some pictures of our daughter whose name was Malki. She was unable to reach her twenties - Hamas saw to that.


Keren Malki

Though she was only fifteen years old when her life was stolen from her and from us, we think Malki was a beautiful young woman, living a beautiful life. We ask your help so that other people - far fewer than the number who will see the New York Times, of course - can know about her. Please ask your friends to look at the pictures - some of the very few we have - of our murdered daughter. They are at http://www.kerenmalki.org/photo.htm.


The police phoned... the Roth home immediately after the mourning... was over to say they had found Malki's cell phone in the wreckage of the Sbarro restaurant. Its ballistic nylon holder was shredded by the nails and other shrapnel; a nail and a fragment are at the right of the phone in this photo...

And remind them of what the woman in the Israeli prison - the woman smiling so happily in the New York Times - said last year. " I'm not sorry for what I did. We'll become free from the occupation and then I will be free from prison."

With so many voices demanding that Israel release its terrorist prisoners, small wonder she's smiling.

With greetings from Jerusalem,
Frimet and Arnold Roth
On behalf of Keren Malki

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Iraq, WMDs, and the Truth

 
For those still in denial about Iraq, Townhall offers some interesting data (hat tip: The Astute Bloggers):

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, now director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, told reporters that U.S. surveillance satellites captured images of vehicle traffic dispersing WMD materiel to urban locations in Iraq and moving large quantities into Syria as well.

"Those below the senior leadership saw what was coming, and I think they went to extraordinary lengths to [dispose, destroy and disperse] the evidence," said Gen. Clapper.

"By the time that we got to a lot of these facilities...there wasn't that much there to look at. There was clearly an effort to disperse, bury and conceal certain equipment prior to inspections."

Gen. Clapper added that there is "no question" that people and WMD materiel were moved by truck convoys into Syria.

The American Thinker adds:

Don't Be So Sure There Were No WMD in Iraq -- By Rachel Neuwirth

The references cited in this article strongly suggest that:

  1. WMD did indeed exist inside Iraq before the war.

  2. The weapons inspectors were both fooled and bribed to ignore evidence.

Picture: 2LA

  3. Massive amounts of WMD were removed to known locations in Syria just prior to the war.

  4. Massive numbers of Saddam's audio tapes and paper documents were collected and most remain unavailable and presumably un-translated...

Of course, don't bother to look for these stories and pictures in the New York Times. When the news doesn't fit its agenda, it disappears down the memory hole faster than a Snickers bar vanishes into Rosie O'Donnell's pie-hole.

Thomas On Religious Extremism

 
"I believe it's more serious than the Nazis and the Communists combined, because it's religiously based. And when your God tells you he wants other people dead, it's pretty hard for an infidel diplomat at the State Department to negotiate with that."

                  --Cal Thomas

Fair n' Balanced: The Unhinged World of Keith Olbermann

 
Herein we examine a transcript of the July 2, 2007 Countdown with Keith Odormann, hosted by a fair n' balanced newsman who always looks at both sides of the issue. So long as the sides are progressive and liberal.

And how can [Bush] be so gutless as to not even make his announcement on camera?

...A president who lied us into a war and, in so doing, needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors, a president whose administration initially tried to destroy the first man to nail that lie, a president whose henchmen then ruined the career of the intelligence asset that was his wife, when intelligence assets were never more essential to the viability of the Republic, a president like that has tonight freed from the prospect of prison the only man ever to come to trial for one of the component felonies in what may be the greatest crime of this young century...

...(David Shuster:) Vice President Cheney will also make sure that Scooter Libby is taken care of, essentially for the rest of his life...

...If the president did not break the law tonight, did he break the spirit of the law (sic)?...

...We seem to think sometimes that we have been able to estimate how deep [Bush's legal jeopardy] hole is, and that it could not get any further. It sometimes resembles the bottomless pit...

....Is there [a] chance that this president might be impeached grew tonight by virtue of his decision to commute this sentence?...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...there‘s nothing that this administration does that surprises us anymore. It‘s corrupt from top to bottom...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...we‘re outraged that the president of the United States would short-circuit the rule of law and the system of justice and really just repudiate everything that we stand for as Americans...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...And if he fails to [instruct the special counsel to release all the information he collected during the course of his investigation]—and I have no expectation that he will, because he is corrupt to the core—I believe that the Congress should begin to investigate this matter...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...There‘s a lot of questions about the underlying crime, et cetera, and a lot of this sort of sect of neoconservatives and their acolytes in the American political system who have sort of argued that Mr. Libby didn‘t really commit a crime...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...they see that an administration with impunity will betray its covert officers, will engage in treason...

...many watching this interview share your distress and your anger tonight...

...(Joe Wilson:) ...we have a system of justice that has been usurped in what I think is an arbitrary and capricious act by a chief executive who is corrupt to the core...

...If it was not before, then the White House is truly tonight in crisis... the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee now says he may seek a charge of criminal contempt of Congress against the administration....

...(Dana Milbank:) ...The question assumes that there is a presidency left to damage... ...They could get Scooter on the table in the Rose Garden and then send him off to a petting zoo for a few years...

...(Dana Milbank:) ...Dennis Kucinich is already up to 10 or 11 House members in his Cheney impeachment petition...

...[Today‘s Worst Person in the World is] the 43rd president of the United States who has tonight commuted the sentence of one of the key members of his own administration and has done it gutlessly by press release, who has buried it on the Monday of the longest fourth of July weekend possible, and who has, in so doing, forfeited his claim to being president of anything larger than a small, privileged, elitist, undemocratic, anti-constitutional cabal...

...Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of god (sic), go. George Walker Bush, today‘s Worst Person in the World. As you may have suspected, tomorrow night here on COUNTDOWN, a special comment calling on this vice president and this president to resign.

Interesting how Olbermann never seems to interview a conservative on his show. Hugh Hewitt, Mark Steyn, or Christopher Hitchens -- for example -- would be wonderful guests. There's definitely a gutless wonder here, but it's not the President of the United States, a man who once logged nearly a thousand hours flying one of the most dangerous jet fighters on the planet.

As an aside, I assume that Odormann thinks it's okay to pardon terrorists and coke dealers with financial ties to the Clinton family. It's reasonable to allow the sale of sensitive missile technology to Red China in exchange for campaign donations. It's entirely legitimate to destroy classified documents related to terrorist attacks just prior to the 9/11 Commmission's investigation. In Keith's book, all of those things -- the egregious behavior of the Clinton administration -- must be okey dokey!

Keith Olbermann: a perfect parody of a real newsman.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Hillary Clinton on Scooter Libby

 
Senator Hillary Clinton issued the following statement on President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby:

Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice.

Interesting perspective. Consider:

* In the waning days of the Clinton administration, Hillary's brother Hugh Rodham collected "nearly $400,000 for helping secure a pardon and a prison commutation for two clients."

* Bill Clinton issued 396 pardons and 61 commutations during his administration.

* Clinton's National Security Advisor -- Sandy Berger -- destroyed classified documents related to terrorist attacks in the US. He had access to National Security Council (NSC) numbered documents, printed copies of e-mails, and staff member office files (SMOFs), which contained original documents.

* Time Magazine headline: Sources: Ex-Wife of Pardoned Fugitive Gave $400,000 to Clinton Library.

* Washington Post headline: Livingstone Resigns, Denying Ill Intent - "The Clinton White House's beleaguered director of personnel security, Craig Livingstone, announced his resignation yesterday, saying he took responsibility for the unjustified collection of FBI files on hundreds of Republicans."

* Quote: "The fact that she can make a statement like this on this particular subject with a straight face represents more proof that Mrs Clinton is a pure sociopath.... absolutely and utterly devoid of conscience."

* Quote: "Four complete sentences. Four complete lies."

Thompson on The Fairness Doctrine

 
"Giving the government veto power over radio stations' programming decisions is wrong. I understand how the left feels though. For most of my life, the big broadcast television networks and almost all the major newspapers and magazines presented only one side of a lot of issues. Talk radio is a relatively small part of a bigger media picture, but I imagine it aggravates the new congressional majority to hear their opposition's arguments without the old filters.

            --Fred Thompson (h/t: Power Line)

The best argument for electing a Democrat as President

 
"Frankly, I think the best argument for electing a Democrat as President is that as long as a Republican is in office the media powers-that-be will refuse to condemn even the worst atrocities on the part of Islamists, for fear of helping the real enemy in the White House."

            --Glenn Reynolds (h/t: Roger L. Simon)

Monday, July 02, 2007

Scooter Libby is Proof that Bush is Out of Control!

 
Late today, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence of 30 months for perjury. While it is true that no one was ever charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act -- the subjects of the investigation -- this is further proof that the Bush administration is completely out of control. Consider the following impeachment-worthy conspiracies foisted upon us by Chimpy and "Dick":

The Iraq War occurred for one reason: to steal oil from the Iraqi people and enrich Exxon-Mobil.

The Diebold Voting Machine customer service center takes direct orders from the Rethuglican National Committee.

The NSA's international wiretapping program was used to perform surveillance on leftist blogger Markos "Screw 'em" Zunigag; this diabolical plot resulted in losses by almost every candidate he backed.

The Bush administration's incessant lies have spread needless fear to drum up neocon support. So-called "terror" attacks in Manhattan, Washington, Bali, Beslan, Madrid, London, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Israel, Mumbai, Kashmir, Thailand, Darfur, Somalia, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are not connected in any way. And Bush is lying when he says so.

The Iraq War occurred for one reason: to enrich Dick Cheney, who benefits directly from his immense holdings in Halliburton.

Diebold and AC Nielsen have conspired to falsely depress Keith Olbermann's ratings, preventing him from reaching even a third of the audience of Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.

Dick Cheney's top secret mind-control device was used to convince Al Franken that he could win a Senate seat.

The Iraq War occurred for one reason: to invigorate the economy, the neo-cons, and America's military-industrial complex.

A top secret organization controlled by Dick Cheney leveled World Trade Center 7 through a carefully orchestrated series of explosions.

Diebold and AC Nielsen have conspired to artificially depress Air America's ratings, resulting in an undeserved bankruptcy filing by the ill-fated radio venture.

Bush lies when he says that the recent terror attacks in London are linked to extremists, they are Salman Rushdie's fault.


Karl Rove. Need we say more?

* * *

Do I hear heads exploding in the distance?