Saturday, August 25, 2007

Hillary worried about terror attacks

 
No, Hillary Clinton isn't worried about terror attacks because more innocent Americans might die. She's concerned because the attacks might affect her candidacy:

"If certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world. So I think I'm the best of the Democrats to deal with that..."

Upon hearing Hillary's confirmation that homeland security is simply a partisan issue for liberals progressives, Chris Dodd sprang into action, calling her comments "tasteless."

What ever you do, don't question Hillary's patriotism. Remember, for the Clintons, poll numbers are far more important than any long-term strategy or planning.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Christmas comes early this year

 
Sticky Notes offers the gift that keeps on giving (hat tip: Larwyn).

Why do I wince every time I see the Hillary Nutcracker?

Iran shuts down sacreligious barbers

 
The dangerous scourge of 'un-Islamic' barber shops in Iran has finally come to an end. Breitbart reports that over the past 15 days, more than a dozen barber shops that offer "unconventional Western hair styles" have been shuttered.

A religious police commander, one Mohammad Ali Najafi, stated that eyebrow-plucking for men and "deviant Western styles" had been banned. In adddition, "eleven women's beauty saloons [sic] were also shut down for... violations such as tattooing, which is banned by a health ministry directive." Long hair, spiked or gelled styles for men have "long angered Iran's religious conservatives."

In July, religious authorities also began a renewed campaign against women with skimpy headscarves or tight-fitting clothing.

I'm sure liberals progressives are perfectly fine with Iran's right to restrict dangerous activities such as eyebrow-plucking. After all, you'll never hear a peep from them regarding the mullahs, but let the administration authorize terrorist wiretaps and -- whoo, boy -- watch out for the curse words!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

It depends on what the definition of 'kill' is

 
Gateway Pundit fires up the Clinton fabrication detector and pegs the needle. Newsweek reporters Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball reviewed the Inspector General's report of pre-9/11 intelligence failures. One interesting revelation: Clinton's anti-Fox outburst notwithstanding, he never authorized the assassination of Osama Bin Laden:

The report... criticized intelligence problems when Bill Clinton was president, detailing political and legal “constraints” agency officials felt in the late 1990s.

...[the] report made it clear [why the U.S.] never mounted more effective operations against him. ...Scheuer agreed with the inspector general’s findings on this issue, but said if anything the report was overly diplomatic. "There was never any ambiguity," he said. "None of those authorities ever allowed us to kill anyone. At least that’s what the CIA lawyers told us." A spokesman for the former president had no immediate comment...

In September 2006, during a famous encounter with Fox News anchor Wallace, Clinton erupted in anger and waived his finger when asked about whether his administration had done enough to get bin Laden. “What did I do? What did I do?” Clinton said at one point. “I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since.”

Ed Morrissey -- not exactly the vindictive type nor interested in revisiting 9/11 -- concisely nails Clinton to the wall:

I've written before that pursuing partisan blame for 9/11 is a waste of time. It gets in the way of determining where failures occurred and developing the proper approaches to avoid them in the future...

However, it gets difficult to remember that when former presidents essentially lie about their roles on national television. Given Clinton's unique history, this prevarication and self-aggrandizement comes as no surprise, but it is still pretty disappointing. It leaves the historical record muddied, right up to the point when independent investigations reveal the truth. Worse, his shouted fabrications contribute to the partisan atmosphere...

And Fausta's on fire:

Ed asks, Did Clinton lie about targeting Bin Laden?, to which I say, the question should be, "when hasn't Clinton lied about anything?"

Indeed, Clinton never gave the CIA an assassination order on bin Laden. Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball have the whole story. Don Surber points out,
Michael Isikoff, the reporter who broke the Monica Lewinsky story only to have his editors at Newsweek spike the story, has caught Bill Clinton in another lie: He never authorized the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Perhaps it all depends on what the definition of "kill" is.

To paraphrase Harry Truman: if the Clintons ever caught themselves telling the truth, they'd lie just to keep their hand in.

"...some Americans are going to die"

 
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell revealed previously classified details of terrorist surveillance programs used to protect the homeland since 9/11.

Such surveillance has been blessed in the past by bipartisan Congressional committees, but was politicized after the New York Times revealed a series of counter-terror programs. Among the revelations:

* AT&T, Verizon and other telecommunications companies aided the surveillance programs and are now being sued for doing so.

* New FISA rulings took effect on May 31st, which require warrants to monitor communications between two foreigners if the conversation travels inside a U.S.-based network. Because millions of international calls transit the U.S. networks daily, this ruling has significantly degraded intelligence-gathering capabilities.

* A single FISA warrant requires 200 hours to assemble, which doesn't precisely fit the 'Internet speeds' at which modern communications operate.

* Fewer than 100 people inside the U.S. are monitored under FISA warrants; this doesn't strengthen the "Bush destroyed our civil rights" meme emanating from the left bank of American politics.

Even as he shed new light on the classified operations, McConnell asserted that the current debate in Congress about whether to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will cost American lives because of all the information it revealed to terrorists.

"Part of this is a classified world. The fact that we're doing it this way means that some Americans are going to die," he said.

I'm sure we'll be hearing supportive statements for McConnell from the mainstream media and leading Democrats like Carl Levin, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi.

Or was that just faux concern for national security that Democrats expressed during their multi-year whinefest called Plamegate?

Gaping hole found in Universe

 
Scientists revealed Thursday that a giant hole in the Universe is completely devoid of galaxies, stars, and even dark matter.

The University of Minnesota team said the 'hole' is almost a billion light-years across and there is no explanation for its presence. "Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said Lawrence Rudnick, an astronomy professor.

When asked what the hole would be called, Rudnick suggested "the core beliefs of Hillary Clinton."

Iran's Cruel and Unusual Punishments

 
The Daily Mail reports that 25 year-old Saeed Ghanbari received 80 lashes as punishment for violating Iran's religious laws.

His crimes include "abusing alcohol and having sex outside of marriage."

1,000 interested observers watched the bloody scene.

Amnesty International believes thousands of Iranians were flogged in 2006 to go along with 117 executions. Among those punished: a woman, forced into prostitution at age eight, received 99 lashes because of "acts contrary to chasity" [sic]. Earlier this year, a man was flogged "after a copy of the Bible was found in his car."

The mullahs are after a record this year, with 120 executions thus far in 2007. Two victims were under age 18, reportedly killed for acts of homosexuality.

I wonder if Democrats consider this 'cruel and unusual punishment"?

Photos: Newscom/Photoshot

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A Small Taste of Liberty

 
Don Surber has the must-read post of the day (hat tip: Larwyn).

President Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention today in Kansas City.

The enemy who attacked us despises freedom, and harbors resentment at the slights he believes America and Western nations have inflicted on his people. He fights to establish his rule over an entire region. And over time, he turns to a strategy of suicide attacks destined to create so much carnage that the American people will tire of the violence and give up the fight.

If this story sounds familiar, it is — except for one thing. The enemy I have just described is not al Qaeda, and the attack is not 9/11, and the empire is not the radical caliphate envisioned by Osama bin Laden. Instead, what I’ve described is the war machine of Imperial Japan in the 1940s, its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and its attempt to impose its empire throughout East Asia.

Ultimately, the United States prevailed in World War II, and we have fought two more land wars in Asia. And many in this hall were veterans of those campaigns. Yet even the most optimistic among you probably would not have foreseen that the Japanese would transform themselves into one of America’s strongest and most steadfast allies, or that the South Koreans would recover from enemy invasion to raise up one of the world’s most powerful economies, or that Asia would pull itself out of poverty and hopelessness as it embraced markets and freedom.

The lesson from Asia’s development is that the heart’s desire for liberty will not be denied. Once people even get a small taste of liberty, they’re not going to rest until they’re free. Today’s dynamic and hopeful Asia — a region that brings us countless benefits — would not have been possible without America’s presence and perseverance. It would not have been possible without the veterans in this hall today. And I thank you for your service.


Ouch. That has to hurt his critics. At least the ones who have a conscience.

While the antiwar crowd — our intellectual and moral superiors — focused on his later parallels of Iraq and Vietnam, I found the comparison to Japan and Korea to be more appropriate.

At the outset of World War II there were only two democracies in the Far East — Australia and New Zealand. Today most of the nations in Asia are free, and its democracies reflect the diversity of the region. Some of these nations have constitutional monarchies, some have parliaments, and some have presidents. Some are Christian, some are Muslim, some are Hindu, and some are Buddhist. Yet for all the differences, the free nations of Asia all share one thing in common: Their governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed, and they desire to live in peace with their neighbors.

Along the way to this freer and more hopeful Asia, there were a lot of doubters. Many times in the decades that followed World War II, American policy in Asia was dismissed as hopeless and naive. And when we listen to criticism of the difficult work our generation is undertaking in the Middle East today, we can hear the echoes of the same arguments made about the Far East years ago.

In the aftermath of Japan’s surrender, many thought it naive to help the Japanese transform themselves into a democracy. Then as now, the critics argued that some people were simply not fit for freedom...


It took, what, 10 years to get the Japanese to get on their feet? As a boy in the 1950s, I recall that “made in Japan” meant junk...

The accompanying screen-cap depicts ABC's coverage of the speech (courtesy of Ace). Not that they have an agenda or anything.

Christine Amanpour's exposé on religious killers

 
CNN's Christine Amanpour is hosting a series of exposes on religious warriors. Each show in the series focuses on the aspects of a single religion:

* Yesterday: the Worldwide Jewish Cabal
* Tonight: Misunderstood Muslims
* Thursday: Christian Crusaders
* Friday: Killer Quakers
* Saturday: Antagonistic Amish
* Sunday: Bloodthirsty Buddhists
* Monday: Homicidal Hindus

Amanpour is certain to offer a detailed comparison of the number of terrorist attacks broken down by instigating religion. And the number of deaths associated with those attacks. As well as the number of slaves currently held by each religion.

Google Sky

 
Yes, it's really that cool.

Read the Viewing the Sky User Guide for detailed information.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Mullahs define roadmap to defeat hegemonic regimes

 
Baztab reports that Iran's top mullah -- Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei -- is chortling at the West's continued impotence.

"We never yield to the global arrogance and consider opposition to the hegemonic powers as the agenda of the Iranian diplomacy.The hegemonic powers regard the international relations as a chess play, expecting other nations to play role of pawns and fall victims whenever the big powers require them to do so..."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Tehran has emerged successfully in its 30-year campaign against hegemonic powers in the international relations... In a meeting with Iranian ambassadors abroad, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Foreign Ministry is expected to uphold national interest which is in line with long-term strategy of the Islamic Revolution and the 20-Year Vision Plan for Economic, Social and Cultural Development (2005-2025).

...the Supreme Leader said that the principles of the Islamic Revolution are inseparable from the national interest and national identity and the major issues in foreign policy should be viewed from this perspective... The Supreme Leader cited the example of Iranian ability to produce nuclear energy and said that such a success was made while the influential countries had imposed sanctions on Iran...

Unfortunately for the mullahs, Iran's 20-year "Vision Plan" is currently under construction.

Perhaps we'll get lucky and it won't be finished until after Democrats have figured out their platform on global terrorism.

Fission-in-a-Box

 
In October of 2005, the Journal's Richard Miniter asserted that while portable, "suitcase" nukes were technically feasible, there was no evidence that Al Qaeda or its affiliates were close to attaining one.

About ten months ago, there was some speculation that North Korea's detonation represented an ominous development. Namely, that Kim Jong-Il's military was experimenting with just such a nuke: a low-yield fission device designed to be man-portable.

Chester and the Belmont Club have more information, which despite the age in blog-o-years, remains important and, as you might expect, unremarked upon by the mainstream media.

Scientists need just a teaspoon to drug test entire city

 
Researchers have figured out how to give an entire community a drug test using just a teaspoon of wastewater from a city's sewer plant.

In the case of Democratic strongholds like Berkeley California, however, just a single drop of liquid is required.

FBI searches for suspicious ferry passengers

 
The FBI is looking for two men who have been spotted on multiple Seattle-area ferries over the past few weeks.

The pair raised suspicions by taking photographs of the ferry, including parts of the structure that agents won't disclose.

I'm no expert at profiling, but they look like militant Quakers to me.

Atlas and LGF have all of the details.

Update: "Profiling is a word that attorneys came up with to defend their guilty clients" --heard on Hannity & Colmes, 8/21/2007

Monday, August 20, 2007

CNN's award-winning storm coverage

 
Gary Tuchman's hysterical reporting on Hurricane Dean reached its apex this afternoon.

Larwyn notes that Tuchman's Breaking News Flash focused on the fact that the Mayan Ruins... will be ruined! Err - never mind that the structures date from 250 AD. This storm is the big one, Wolf! The Mayan ruins will be wiped flatter than Michael Moore's mattress!

Here's the "before" picture of one of the ruins.

And here's the predicted "after". Anyone want to wager?

Mr. Tuchman, I smell a Pulitzer!

Why Michael Vick didn't take the plea deal

 
Anyone have Jackie Chiles' email address?

Update: Commenter Newman330 provided Chiles' email address, but it's of no use now. Word has it that Vick intends to plea.

Line o' the Day: Edwards' Fortress Foreclosures

 
Does it ring your bell that nobody asked John Edwards about his $16 million dollar investment in Fortress Financial which foreclosed on 34 or 38 New Orleanians -- which is where he announced his campaign, where he had the poverty tour? If Mitt Romney had invested $16 million in a company foreclosing on the homes of Katrina victims, do you think he'd get asked about it? Damn right he would! Stephanopoulos didn't bring it up. Neither did any of the candidates. But we will...

                                                      --EIB (hat tip: Ed Morrissey)

Sunday, August 19, 2007

New York Times learns how to use Wikipedia

 
Chris Muir's cartoon is a great introduction to revelations that various organizations have been caught with their fingers in the Wikipedia jar.

Update: Wired's Reddit page has a list of the most salacious edits.

Edwards asks for end to name-calling, labels Coulter 'She-Devil'

 
ABC has a unique spin on the feud between John Edwards and Ann Coulter:

Former Sen. John Edwards on Friday fired the latest round in his ongoing verbal feud with Ann Coulter, calling her a "she-devil" at a public event before quickly adding that he shouldn't engage in name-calling...

Coulter went on ABC's "Good Morning America" and said she had learned her lesson after being blasted for suggesting in a joke before the Conservative Political Action Conference that Edwards was a "faggot." ..."If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," Coulter said...

...That prompted Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, to call in to MSNBC's "Hardball" and challenge Coulter directly. "I want to use the opportunity … to ask her politely to stop the personal attacks," Mrs. Edwards said... The call left Coulter uncharacteristically flustered -- and was quickly turned into a fund-raising appeal by the Edwards campaign...

ABC cleverly censored Coulter's complete statement, which -- in the land we like to call 'reality' -- was:

...about the same time, you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I've learned my lesson. If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot...

Coulter, of course, was highlighting the outrageous double-standard that exists in today's "reporting." Liberal commentators like Bill Maher can -- without comment or controversy -- get away with wishing for murder.

But let conservative pundits highlight those comments with tongue-in-cheek statements? Never! The mainstream media will both censor and spin to ensure maximum political effect!

As for Coulter being "flustered" by Elizabeth Edwards call during Hardball: read the transcript or listen to the show. Coulter was about as flustered as Patton during the Third Army's final drive into Germany.

By the way, is it name-calling to refer to Edwards as...

..."silky pony"?

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Newsweek '75: Scientific Consensus on Global Cooling

 
Yep, you read that headline right. In 1975, Newsweak claimed "scientific consensus" on the topic of global cooling.

Back in '75, some scientists were proposing solutions to global cooling like melting the polar ice caps.

Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change... They concede that some of the more spectacular solutions proposed, such as melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting arctic rivers, might create problems far greater than those they solve. But the scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality...

Dennis Dutton has the whole article. Honestly, I couldn't stop giggling.