A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
China boosts defense fund as talks end “Traditional fireworks ending China's lunar New Year celebrations were overshadowed yesterday by a display of political pyrotechnics that included a big boost in military spending...” (READ MORE)
School linked to Hamas gets U.S. cash “Millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid have been given in the past several years to two Palestinian universities -- one of them controlled by Hamas -- that have participated in the advocacy, support or glorification of terrorism.” (READ MORE)
Paulson doesn't see China as enemy “Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. says the economy is healthy, inflation seems under control and the U.S. should not perceive China as an economic enemy.” (READ MORE) NAACP leader quits over group's focus “NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon is quitting the civil rights organization, leaving after just 19 months at the helm, citing growing strain with board members over the group's style and operations.” (READ MORE)
Silicon Valley looks to Obama “Silicon Valley leaders whose endorsements have been key in past presidential races give Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton high marks, but say there is little to learn about her candidacy.” (READ MORE)
CPAC embraces Steele, Gingrich “Michael S. Steele and Newt Gingrich were the biggest stars according to activists who attended the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference.” (READ MORE)
No U.S. Backup Strategy For Iraq “During a White House meeting last week, a group of governors asked President Bush and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about their backup plan for Iraq. What would the administration do if its new strategy didn't work?” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Marine Historian: In The Company of Heroes... “For the last several months I have been in the company of heroes on a daily basis. It has been an honor, a privilege and a great responsibility to document the work of these selfless and courageous young Marines, Corpsmen and Soldiers each day. Soon I will begin an even more challenging task; conveying the actions and ideals of these fantastic troops with mere words.” (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: Arabian Nights “Last night we went down into the canal region south of Falluja. We cleared back and forth through the tall reeds, along canals, and through villages. In one nasty little village, we found a bomb in an intersection. It was a large plastic tube of rocket propellant, jury-rigged as an IED.” (READ MORE)
The Online Chaplin: Many People have Asked “Many of you have asked what you might do to help soldiers that come through CSC Scania. Here are some items that are in short supply on an on-going basis that help get soldiers through the days. Mind you they are not essentials, the Army takes care of the essentials. These are what we refer to as comfort items. But if you want to help, here is the list.” (READ MORE)
Jack Army: Crime? During War? “Yeah, crime. In my area it's a bigger problem than the insurgency. Really. We have people that are taking advantage of the relative calm in our area but lack of complete security to commit crimes with relative impunity. Some is undoubtedly related to terrorist assholes that want power. They are using any little rift, real or imagined, to create a larger wedge and gain power. Who are they driving wedges between? Well, the government and the people. The security forces and the people. The government and the security forces. Sunnis and Shia. This village versus that village. Locals versus people from outside the immediate area. Kurds and Turkomen and Arabs... The list goes on.” (READ MORE)
Omar: Street Justice “As we noted more than once before, Operation ‘Imposing Law’ is an escalating effort with military and political components. After the troops fixed their feet on the streets of Baghdad, PM Maliki and the troops are pushing forward with both components. Politically, Maliki put an end to speculations about his real intentions of a cabinet reshuffle and announced that the reshuffle is going to happen within two weeks from now.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Suzanne Fields: Moving away from make-believe “The movies aren't what they used to be. Hollywood still imagines that it's the center of the cosmos, but the movies, politically correct as they have become (think Al Gore's Oscar for a slide show), don't move us as they once did.” (READ MORE)
Donald Lambro: Wall Street spooked by shoddy reporting “The global economy is a complicated entity that relies on accurate information about financial trends, something that was missing at strategic times during last week's market meltdown.” (READ MORE)
Dinesh D'Souza: Another Vietnam? Bring it on “The Pelosi Democrats in Congress and the leading Democratic presidential contenders all stress that things aren’t going well in Iraq. Yet they all seem quite pleased about this.” (READ MORE)
Star Parker: The growing government tab for irresponsible behavior “It is unfortunate that so much of the discussion about how to deal with poverty in our country consists of well-meaning people talking past each other.” (READ MORE)
Armstrong Williams: Iran: Natural Enemy or Ally? “All the rage these days is that Iran could be the next Iraq. We continually hear frightening stories about their nuclear arms build up, their potentially dangerous leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, their freedom-less (read un-democratic) society, and their support against American soldiers and officials in Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Gregory Koukl: Wailing at the Tomb? “I resent the Discovery Channel's attempt to demean and belittle Christianity by saying it is based on a lie. It is hard for me to believe that The Discovery Channel would dare do such a ‘documentary’ on any other religion.” (READ MORE)
Mary Grabar: Atheistic Democracy: An oxymoron “In response to the recent assault by ‘tolerant’ atheists, I am going to explain why it is necessary to maintain our Christian heritage in order to sustain our democracy.” (READ MORE)
Some Soldier's Mom: Faith in Time of War: Grace Under Fire “I’m a believer that the words “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” was actually a guarantee to all of us to our freedom OF religion and not the twisted battle cry of freedom FROM religion.” (READ MORE)
Victor Davis Hanson: Memory and Conflict in Iraq “Given all of this country's past wars involving intelligence failures, tactical and strategic blunders, congressional fights and popular anger at the president, Iraq and the rising furor over it are hardly unusual. Imagine if the House of Representatives had debated a resolution to authorize the president's use of force in Iraq only after the bombs were already falling. And what if after the debate, in the middle of the war, with our troops already in combat, Congress had suddenly denied such approval?” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: (Audio) Hillary, Obama develop southern accents for Selma “They were both in town today to commemorate Bloody Sunday. First up: the Glacier. Commentary by Matt Drudge, audio courtesy of Jim C. at Drudge Radio Archives. In fairness to Hillary, if you’ve ever heard the Gorebot testifyin’ before a black audience, you know the pandering can get much, much worse than this.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Ann Coulter Is Da Bomb “I don't want to write this piece. I really, really don't want to defend Ann Coulter. Especially since she really doesn't need it (she probably doesn't mind the latest round of outrage in the least). But since I don't really see anyone else saying what I'm about to say, I probably should say it. Ann Coulter has her place in modern-day politics. She's a bomb-thrower.” (READ MORE)
Kim Priestap: Bill Maher Argues for VP Cheney's Assassination “He did more than just express remorse that Dick Cheney wasn't killed in the suicide bombing while he was in Afghanistan, he outright explained why it would be best if Dick Cheney were assassinated. NewsBusters has the transcript:” (READ MORE)
Dymphna: A New World Order Brought to You by Those Who Know Best “’Gore Funding Plan For A New World Order’ That is the title of Dan Riehl’s latest post. It may be the most important essay you’ll read this year. Lefties will condemn it as paranoid. I wish they were right. But this phenomenon has been building for a long, long time. And now the nightmare he describes is coming into the daylight. It's hideous looking.” (READ MORE)
Blue Crab Boulevard: Damaging Foolishness “The House of Representatives appears to be heading for passage of yet another non-binding resolution. This time it is not aimed at administration policy or internal politics. It isn't aimed at the US at all. It is aimed at Turkey and denounces the genocide in Armenia 92 years ago. And it is an appallingly bad political move.” (READ MORE)
The Anchoress: 17,000 scientists dissent; no consensus on global warming “Via BizzyBlog, who writes: ‘In light of the growing intimidation of skeptics by financially conflicted globaloney globalarmists…it seems quite timely — indeed, important — to post this quaint little reminder: ... over 17,000 scientists declare that global warming is a lie with no scientific basis whatsoever.’” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Did Obama rout Hillary in Selma? “I wasn’t there and I have only caught a few highlights on cable (no C-Span yet) but I lean toward giving Obama the TKO in his nearly head-to-head matchup against the Clintons in Selma, Ala., today.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: An Open Letter to the ACU and CPAC “This is self-explanatory. And overdue. An Open Letter to CPAC Sponsors and Organizers Regarding Ann Coulter
Conservatism treats humans as they are, as moral creatures possessing rational minds and capable of discerning right from wrong. There comes a time when we must speak out in the defense of the conservative movement, and make a stand for political civility. This is one of those times.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: Distractions “There are very good reasons that so much time and energy are being spent on Anna Nicole’s remains and Britney’s shaved parts, and the horse races for the respective nominations. First allow a slight digression. When a person attends to inconsequential fluff rather than serious problems, the turning toward ephemeral distractions usually serves a defensive purpose. If a person prefers to obsessively attend to talking heads speculating about who Anna Nicole’s baby’s father is, rather than worry about how he is going to pay for his health insurance, the distraction succeeds in temporarily allaying anxiety.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: Surrender With Credible Force vs. Threat of Violence “Obama tells a pro-Israel crowd he wants to pull out of Iraq but leave military force on the table as an option with Iran, while still supporting Israel. This speech was linked in the Kharnival below, but this kind of shrewd strategy really deserves more attention. Here we go:” (READ MORE)
McQ: Swift Boating the Swift Boaters (updated) “It has become an article of truth to many on the left that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were a pack of liars. They believe that this group of former Vietnam Swift Boat vets were enticed by Republican operatives to sell themselves out to sink the presidential aspirations of John Kerry. And they further believe that the only reason it worked was because Kerry was slow to respond. I hate to buck the left's conventional wisdom, but I don't buy that at all.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Report: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State of Iraq, captured “Unconfirmed report indicates Bagdadi captured in Salahadin province - Iraqi security forces are reporting that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qaeda's political front organization the Islamic State of Iraq, has been captured in the northern city of Duluiya in Salahadin province, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: NATO's Winter Offensive in Afghanistan, continued “Fighting in Helmand, Kunar, two of the most dangerous provinces, initiated by NATO forces; Taliban ambush in Nangarhar - While the Taliban has geared up for their yearly spring offensive, NATO forces have declined to remain on the defensive. NATO forces are currently on the offensive in the violent provinces of Helmand and Kunar.” (READ MORE)
Chickenhawk Express: Haditha Today “Stars and Stripes has an excellent article up about the situation in Haditha today and how the residents feel about the US troops. ‘For locals in Haditha, the incident is memorable but not the hot-button issue it is in America, Marines deployed here said. ‘We’ve asked some of the local nationals who come in here on a daily basis about it,’ said Staff Sgt. Andres Quiniones, who works at the Haditha Civil Military Operations Center. ‘Everyone still remembers it, but we’ve never had anybody come in and start complaining about it. I guarantee it’s talked about more in the States than it is here.’” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: Gore Funding Plan For "A New World Order" “If your employer began paying you 80 cents on the dollar, but, not to worry, the other 20 cents was going to support ‘good causes’, thereby giving you value instead of capital, would you be pleased? If not, you won't like what Al Gore has been quietly planning along with his Global Warming initiative.” (READ MORE)
Andi: Cindy Sheehan Meets Her Match in Vermont “Last week, I was in disbelief over reports that a Vermont State Senate committee couldn't find one single person who would agree to go on record in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and in opposition to Cindy Sheehan's defeatist rhetoric. ‘Committee Chairman Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, said Monday he has been unable to find anyone to testify in favor of the four-year-old war during the noontime hearing in the Senate chambers later this week.’ That didn't last long.” (READ MORE)
Cassandra: Please, Oppress Me “In Sunday's Post, more evidence that individual choices continue to drive the persistent income disparities in the American economy:
Among its many benefits, marriage raises the earnings of men and motivates them to work more hours. It also reduces by two-thirds the likelihood that a family will live in poverty, researchers have learned.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: If Ann Coulter Was Wrong, And She Was, So Are These Liberal Bloggers “As one of the conservative bloggers who did rip Coulter's quote as being ‘juvenile,’ ‘extremely selfish,’ and called for Ann to apologize and not be invited back to CPAC next year, let me also note that Kirstin Powers makes an excellent point. How hypocritical is it for the left side of the blogosphere, which is filled with bloggers who can barely go 3 or 4 sentences without dropping a F-bomb, to be complaining about Ann Coulter using an offensive word?” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: The Bummer Of A Big Tent “The Democratic win in last year's midterms gave more credibility to the anti-war wing of Congressional Democrats, who spent most of 2006 trying to get reporters to show up to press conferences, and mostly unsuccessfully. With the new majority, these members of the so-called Out of Iraq Caucus have received much more attention and regularly get their message into the mainstream. However, they have begun to discover that all of the seats they won in November came from districts that don't appreciate a cut-and-run policy:” (READ MORE)
Patterico: No Hate Speech by Prominent Leftists? “A certain intellectual fraud who goes by the name of Glenn Greenwald (as well as a few other names) recently said that leftist hate speech is not uttered by prominent leftist figures, but rather only by anonymous blog comments and e-mailers: This post puts the lie to Greenwald’s ridiculous assertion. Below I have listed more than 20 examples of hate speech by prominent leftist figures, such as politicians, journalists writing for major newspapers or radio networks, television and movie industry personalities, and the like.” (READ MORE)
Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.
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