A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Sarkozy wins French election - Nicolas Sarkozy, an enthusiastic friend of the United States, was elected president of France by a comfortable margin yesterday and signaled at once that his victory would mean friendly relations with Washington. (READ MORE)
Guide coaches illegals on raids - A Maryland-based immigrant-advocacy group is distributing guidebooks instructing those targeted by federal immigration agents during job-site raids not to cooperate with authorities if they are arrested or detained. (READ MORE)
Sarkozy Wins, Vows to Restore Pride in France - Nicolas Sarkozy, the combative son of a Hungarian immigrant, was elected president of France on Sunday, promising a new generation of leadership to transform the country, restore its self-respect and reinvigorate ties with the United States and Europe. (READ MORE)
On Poverty, Edwards Faces Old Hurdles - His rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination were busy April 26 preparing for their first televised debate, but John Edwards was 45 miles south, strolling along a dirt road in this struggling town in South Carolina's Low Country to chat with what few people he could find... (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Afghanistan JAG: Humanitarian Mission Pictures “More pictures from yesterday's successful mission to deliver clothes to a needy village. This shows me giving the convoy brief. More importantly, you can see the size of a 7 ton truck. We completely filled two of them with boxes of clothes, from top to bottom.” (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: There and Back Again (A Soldier's Tale) “First call was at 0500. I rolled over in the blackness and felt for my breakfast MRE and my last cigarette carefully nestled between my ammo pouches. I emptied out the backpack that I normally bring on missions before the previous mission, because the lead truck has no room to spare for it. I miss that bag more than anything this morning.” (READ MORE)
Desert Flier: Doha gets a second chance “‘Well, I say we just keep her. She can stay in the barracks with us.’ ‘She is so cute, I would just love to adopt her as my own. Is it ok if we just 'claim' her as ours?’ Just a few of the comments I heard as I wade through medics and corpsman on my way to see Doha. She's the MVP of Charlie Medical this morning and is coming in to get pins extracted from her femur.” (READ MORE)
IraqPundit: How "Funny" Is Iraq? “‘Don’t abandon us,’ pleads Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister of Iraq, in Friday's Washington Post. ‘There is no denying the difficulties Iraq faces,’ he writes, ‘and no amount of good news can obscure the demons of terrorism and sectarianism that have risen in my country. But there is too much at stake to risk failure, and everything to gain by helping us protect our hard-won democratic achievements and emerge as a stable, self-sustaining country.’” (READ MORE)
LTC Rich Phillips: Week 16--The Sun Comes Out Again “I guess no matter how dark the night, the sun does eventually come back out. Using that analogy, it's morning for me here. Definately not the full light of day, but not the dark of night anymore. Thanks to all who were concerned about me. I appreciate the emails and comments and prayers and kind thoughts. I did not mean to alarm anyone, but it is important for me to post each week, the good and the bad.” (READ MORE)
Duke in Iraq: Wondering "I wonder how many people become concerned when the phone rings. I wonder how many people are suddenly worried when they see an official vehicle drive into their neighborhood. I wonder how many parents only get to speak to their spouse 15 minutes twice a week to discuss all of the household issues and how to deal with rebellious children. I wonder how many people wonder if their loved one is OK if the phone disconnects. I wonder. This is the life of the families of a serviceman who is deployed in harms way." (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Walter E. Hussman Jr.: How to Sink a Newspaper “One has to wonder how many of the newspaper industry's current problems are self-inflicted. Take free news. News has become ubiquitous, free, and as a result, a commodity. Anytime you are trying to sell something that becomes a commodity, you have lost much of the value in providing that product or service. Not many years ago if someone wanted to find out what was in the newspaper they had to buy one. But not anymore. Now you can just go to the newspaper's Web site and get that same information for free.” (READ MORE)
John Fund: L'Adulte “Conservative Nikolas Sarkozy's comfortable victory over Socialist Ségolène Royal in France's presidential race may that indicate Europe's slowest-growing major economy is finally ready for some change. Long derided as a ‘center of social rest’ for its cradle-to-grave welfare state, mandatory 35-hour work week, public-sector strikes and ossified employment rules, France has voted for a new president who claims he wants to shake things up. ‘France does not fear change,’ Mr. Sarkozy told his supporters as the vote progressed yesterday, ‘France hopes for it.’” (READ MORE)
Phil Harris: The Vast Left-Wing Culture of Death “Christians are often confronted with a question that is hard to answer. It is a difficult question, not because it challenges our faith in Jesus Christ; that he sealed a new Covenant with God by taking on the sins of the world, but because of our genuine desire that all should find redemption, and be justified when it is their time to stand before God.” (READ MORE)
Matt Margolis & Mark Noonan: Democrats Choose Scandalmongering over Agenda “Last week, Rahm Emanuel, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, spoke to the Brookings Institution about corruption in government, using most of his 3,600-plus-word speech to harp on the so-called Republican ‘culture of corruption,’ while implying Democrats hold the moral high ground on ethics.” (READ MORE)
Ed Feulner: Don't Scrap the Private Ballot “Big Labor doesn't put it that bluntly, but that's the upshot of the inaccurately named ‘Employee Free Choice Act,’ which union leaders are pushing hard before Congress. If the measure becomes law, it would completely change the way workers form a union. Instead of using a private ballot, union leaders could unionize a company by ‘persuading’ a simple majority of employees to sign union cards.” (READ MORE)
Kathleen Parker: Banal Outrage “Veteran political columnist David Broder set off a firestorm recently when he called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an ‘embarrassment’ for declaring the Iraq War ‘lost.’” (READ MORE)
Robert Bluey: Top 10 Ways Pelosi Can Reform the House “When Democrats won control of Congress last November, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi made a simple promise: ‘We pledge to make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history.’” (READ MORE)
Doug Giles: The Islam-O-Fascists Must be Happier than a Pig in Fresh Mud “I’m certain the terrorists, both here and abroad, are having a good jihadic giggle over a smoldering hookah as they view our wilting will to war.” (READ MORE)
A Soldier's Mind: Taking Back The Neighborhood “Coalition and Iraqi forces in Diyala province, are giving the neighborhoods back to the citizens, one neighborhood at a time. Residents of the neighborhood, tired of constantly living in fear because of the insurgents and stepping up to the plate and providing valuable information to US forces. These people are tired, tired of the constant fear of death meted out by al-Qaeda operatives in their neighborhoods, tired of living in fear, and ready and willing to do what it takes to assist in making their neighborhoods a safer place for their families.” (READ MORE)
Big Dog: Will Carter Like Numbers Get Bush Liberal Love? “A Newsweek poll shows that President Bush’s approval rating is at an all time low and is the same as Jimmy Carter’s at 28%. That is right, only 28 out of every 100 people approve of the job that President Bush is doing and that number compares to the numbers of Jimmy Carter, easily America’s worst President. We have not been attacked since 9/11 and we are fighting the terrorists in their own back yard so that we do not have to fight them here and the President has the same numbers as one of the former Presidents who brought terror to us by allowing the Iranians to hold hostages for more than a year.” (READ MORE)
Baldilocks: Breathing Down Her Neck “I haven't had too much to say about the slate of candidates--both Democrat and Republican--who are running for president in 2008, but I read something today--from last month--allegedly said by one of them; something which made my nappy hair straighten spontaneously.” (READ MORE)
Blonde Sagacity: GITMO Terrorists Won't Talk to Their Lawyers “Imagine you're a GITMO ‘detainee’ lawyer. Much of the country thinks you're scum...fighting for the rights of non-citizens that were attempting to kill our troops. But you believe in your cause and in your eyes, troop-killers or not, these Islamofascists deserve all the rights and protections of a US citizen. But then, after all the papers files, arguments with friends and family, court appearances and trips to Cuba...your client won't speak with you because you're Jewish...or gay.” (READ MORE)
Blue Crab Boulevard: British To Ration Health Care “Britain's National Health Service is collapsing under it's own weight and has admitted it will have to begin rationing treatment that it can no longer afford to allow to be universal. ‘British doctors will take the historic step of admitting for the first time that many health treatments will be rationed in the future because the NHS cannot cope with spiralling demand from patients.’” (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Palestinians: Al-Qaeda Attacked School “Palestinian Authority officials have blamed al-Qaeda for an attack on a school celebration, in part because the terrorists believed that girls and boys would dance together at the event. They allege that AQ has established a foothold in Gaza, and more attacks will follow: ‘Palestinian Authority security officials accused supporters of al-Qaida in the Gaza Strip of carrying out Sunday's attack on a UNRWA-run school in Rafah in which one person was killed and six others were wounded.’” (READ MORE)
Cool, Calm & Collected: I miss him. “I am finding that some of the smallest little things set me off now that I've lost Jim. Housewares, for instance... I used to go down the pots and pans aisle in Target or Bed Bath & Beyond, and think of how I was excited to register there. Now, I just think of the dreams that didn't come true. I wonder what people think when they see me crying while holding a measuring spoon set. Not that I care, I just wonder what is going through their minds...” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Taliban Operation in Bajaur “Less than two months after the Pakistani government negotiated with the Taliban in Bajaur, the Taliban have openly flexed their muscles in the troubled tribal agency. On Satuday, ‘militants,’ described as Taliban but very likely the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi [TNSM - the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law], or Pakistani Taliban, set up check points and harassed the locals for not being sufficiently Islamic. The TNSM deployed over 250 fighters along the roads in Bajaur, at one point no less than 3 miles from Khar, the agency headquarters. ‘Local authorities allegedly made no attempt to deal with the threat,’ reported Deutsche Presse-Agentur.” (READ MORE)
Fjordman: What Do We Fight For? “I have tried to contribute to a new vocabulary by coining the word ‘Caucasophobia’ for anti-white racism, and have suggested the term ‘self-termination’ for organized Western self-loathing and the Western policy of unilaterally dismantling our own culture. Both terms are OK, but if somebody can come up with something better and more catchy, I’m all ears. One can say many bad things about the word ‘Islamophobia,’ but it’s easy to understand and sticks in your mind. If the shariabots can come up with a word like that then infidels shouldn’t be any less inventive.” (READ MORE)
Dymphna: Momma Said Don’t Talk About Politics, Religion, or Sex “But Starbucks obviously wasn’t Raised Right, for we are now being subjected to preaching from their choir — which is not necessarily our choice of reading material. Someone in the Starbucks organization lives in a multicultural bubble because now their disposable cups have enlightened little messages on them. At least they’re enlightened by Seattle standards.” (READ MORE)
Gribbit: France Burning in Wake of Decisive Elections “France is once again at the mercy of rioters. But this time someone incited the riots. Defeated Presidential candidate Segolene Royal warned of riots if Nicolas Sarkozy were to win the election, which he did. So now the youth are once again in the streets rioting. Riots in France are an annual thing. They happen every spring.” (READ MORE)
Ian: (Video) “Outside the Wire” producer on H&C; Colmesy injects politics “David Chavarria, producer of “Outside the Wire,” appeared on Hannity & Colmes Friday evening to discuss what’s in the documentary. The first question from liberal co-host Alan Colmes was: ‘Is this a political film, are you trying to make a political statement here or just trying to show footage of what’s going on?’ Leave it up to Alan Colmes to immediately politicize everything.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: I Wish We Could Have an Election Like That “Say what you want to about those insufferably arrogant, lazy-ass Frenchmen. When it comes to Presidential elections, they have the right idea. Turnout at an astonishing 85%. A relatively short campaign season. Lots of intrigue and backstabbing for us political junkies. The novelty of a woman heading up a major party’s ticket. Even the threat of violence from left wing loons following an election defeat which shows once again how the Euro-twits and socialists never tire of aping the tactics of their 1960’s ideological counterparts.” (READ MORE)
ROFASix: Being OPSEC Sensitive “If your military friends are serving overseas you need to consider whether you are creating a problem for them when you send some of the 'edgier' stuff on to them. Now-a-days the computer cops might get them for having something on their computer that you sent. Remember that while the more tech savvy know how to really erase stuff using some of the software out there, others still think the recycle folder is the equivalent to deleting it.” (READ MORE)
DJ Drummond: Global War - Part 2 “There is an understandable focus on American actions and intentions, especially since the MSM is obsessed with finding fault with any and all American objectives. However, in both historical and modern contexts, there are a number of significant players, whose objectives are every bit as "global" as those of the United States. Also, the fact that we do not operate in a vacuum, but in an environment influenced by all the separate players, means that these different directives must be considered in forming a comprehensive understanding of the world's condition, and to determine future priorities and strategies.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Bayoneting the wounded “With the French elections yesterday, I -- along with many others -- have noticed a rush to lay the loss of the Socialist candidate at her own feet, to deflect the public rejection from the movement and solely on to the candidate. That got me thinking about our own elections, and how we treat losing candidates. The Republicans, as a general rule, honor those who fight the good fight, but fall short.” (READ MORE)
Flopping Aces: Peace in our Time? ““How horrible, incredible it is, that we should (be fighting) because of a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing. The speaker of this quote had just met the leader who had sparked the quarrel, and of the leader, he said, “was a man of peace to the depth of my soul.” The speaker here, of course, is Neville Chamberlain, speaking to the press as he continued his policy of appeasement and stood by as Hitler swallowed Czechoslovakia. And the leader he was speaking about was (of course) Hitler.” (READ MORE)
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