A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
This is the Weekend Edition of the Web Reconnaissance it is updated periodically throughout the weekend as time and family permits
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Bank May Vote No Confidence In Wolfowitz - The World Bank executive board has concluded that the bank's president, Paul D. Wolfowitz, broke ethics rules in engineering a hefty pay raise for his girlfriend, and plans to try to end his tenure next week, senior bank officials said yesterday. (READ MORE)
Giuliani Tries to Clarify Abortion Stance - Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday sought to quell a growing controversy over abortion that has disrupted his presidential campaign. Restating his support for abortion rights, he asked Republican voters to look beyond that issue to the totality of his platform and record. (READ MORE)
Afghans Growing Irate Over Casualties - GHANIKHEL, Afghanistan -- The mud-walled village compound was silent except for a chorus of tiny frogs in the surrounding fields. Inside, ghosts lurked. A pile of stones had been carefully mounded over the bloodstains where Janat Gul, 40, died. (READ MORE)
Ruling Party Charms a Turkish City With New Take on Secular Heritage - KAYSERI, Turkey -- Six decades of work has arched his back, age has slowed his speech. But Ahmet Hamdi Gul was quick to praise the people running this city in the heart of Anatolia, awash in a transformation from backwater to bustling entrepot, from stronghold of Turkey's ultranationalists.. (READ MORE)
Venezuelan Oil Losing Share of Key U.S. Market - When the state oil company recently took over the last privately run oil fields in Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez declared it a victory against Washington and a giant leap toward a new energy policy that would diversify the market for Venezuelan crude to include rising powers like China. (READ MORE)
Earth study in intelligence bill - Republicans, accusing Democrats of caring more about "bugs and bunnies" than hunting for al Qaeda, yesterday failed to strip a global warming study from an intelligence policy bill as lawmakers tacked a similar climate change provision onto a separate defense spending bill... (READ MORE)
Public rates Congress little better than Bush - People think the Democratic-led Congress is doing just as dreary a job as President Bush after four months of bitter political standoffs that have made little progress on Iraq and on a host of domestic issues. (READ MORE)
Giuliani firm on favoring abortion - Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani forcefully reaffirmed his pro-choice stance yesterday and argued that his divergence from conservatives on the issue should not disqualify him from being the eventual GOP nominee. (READ MORE)
Mugabe minister voted to U.N. post - Zimbabwe won approval last night to head a key United Nations body charged with promoting economic progress and environmental protection despite protests from the U.S., European nations and human rights organizations. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Afghanistan JAG: OPERATION BACKPACK “We are currently in the process of filling over 2000 backpacks and duffel bags to give to the Afghan school kids. This is proving to be one of our biggest logistical challenges. This must be done during our ‘down’ time, and there isn't much of that. Each backpack or duffel must be unwrapped from its packaging, unzipped and then put through an assembly line of packers.” (READ MORE)
The Calm Before the Sand: Rage “It's official. The extension came down about three days ago. We were called to an emergency formation at about 0900, at which point the company XO gave us the news: Extended 90 days. This means I'm stuck in this stinking shithole until possibly December. Another Thanksgiving, another Christmas without my wife, without my friends.” (READ MORE)
Omar: It's a rough time but I wouldn't panic. “The political process in Iraq has reached another very critical and important stage. This is the time that will decide if Iraq will emerge as a country that can sustain itself and where groups of people-while have many differences-can share this nation and coexist peacefully. There's no doubt that this is going to be a difficult journey until key requirements to reconciliation, especially the oil distribution law and the Justice and Accountability law (which will replace the debaathification law) see the light.” (READ MORE)
Jack Army: Shame on Who? “Someone with a bit of ironic sense, calling herself "LadyLiberty", responded to the previous post with: ‘What utter poppycock, the only reason your [sic] blogging is because you present pro-administration views. We have family there, your [sic] not telling what [the] hell is going on in other places. Good for you getting a cushy spot-most others aren't so lucky.’” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Michael McBride: Defining the Global War on Terror “Wars have always had their discernable differences. Some extremely nuanced, some extremely dramatic. Strategists have been able to draw on tactics and strategies from previous wars or engagements and adapt them to modern principles and equipment.” (READ MORE)
Ken Connor: A Selfless Choice: In Celebration of Adoption “In the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on partial birth abortion, proponents of abortion have reacted as if the sky were falling. Abortion proponents have grimly announced that a ‘woman’s right to choose’ is in peril. Of course, they speak about the ‘right to choose’ only in the abstract; they are careful not to identify the choice they have in view.” (READ MORE)
Paul Driessen: The ‘coal is filthy’ ad-scam “Even in this ‘era of corporate social responsibility,’ brazen violations of honesty, transparency and accountability standards occur regularly. Exhibit 1: the recent ‘Coal is filthy’ ad campaign.” (READ MORE)
Caroline B. Glick: What is Israel's problem? “In an interview last Friday with Ma'ariv, former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon expressed his view that the ongoing debate in Israel regarding the solution to the conflict with the Palestinians is an exercise in futility. As he put it, ‘We argue over what the solution is, but we still haven't agreed on what the problem is.’” (READ MORE)
Diana West: Eating our own “On the 60th anniversary of VJ-Day in 2005, Marine Capt. Randy Stone, a military lawyer serving in Iraq, became a presidential poster boy. Capt. Stone's two grandfathers fought at Iwo Jima, so George W. Bush, in a celebratory speech, turned the whole family into a gold-braided rhetorical flourish to depict the continuity of American character and courage from one war to another.” (READ MORE)
Oliver North: The War on Women “No culture can truly celebrate mothers unless first they respect women.” (READ MORE)
Rich Tucker: Inaction on Immigration “Two years ago President Bush was touring the country, promoting his plan for reform. It went nowhere. So now we’re closer to the baby boom retirement surge and we’ve had no reform, no new plans, and nobody seems to care. Illegal immigration’s a similar story.” (READ MORE)
Michael Steele: An Open Letter to the Republican Presidential Candidates “For years, I sat in audiences and listened as politicians tried to win over voters, especially minority voters, by talking about hope.” (READ MORE)
Mark M. Alexander: The Leftmedia middle? “Today's 24-hour news recyclers have given rise to an equally incessant political cycle: that of the talkingheads droning on endlessly about the next election mere nanoseconds after the previous one has been decided.” (READ MORE)
Mike Gallagher: The American spirit lives on in Greensburg, Kansas “I’ve always understood tornados to be cruelly inconsistent in the way they skip from one block to another, wiping a house away on one block while the next block is unscathed. In Greensburg, nothing was missed by this massive funnel.” (READ MORE)
Bryan Caplan: Special-Interest Secret “ Behind every policy that does more harm than good, there's a special interest that favors it anyway. The steel tariff was bad for consumers, steel-using industries and foreign steel producers, but the steel lobby still pushed for it. Farm subsidies are bad for both taxpayers and unsubsidized farmers, but in 2002 the American farm lobby got a 70% increase in government support. The minimum wage is bad for consumers, employers and low-skill workers who get priced out of their jobs, but unions are hard at work to raise it again.” (READ MORE)
WSJ: The McDermott Affair “The rights and duties of the press are in the news these days, and so we're pleased to report that an appellate court decision last week left all of us a little freer. We're referring to the D.C. Circuit's ruling in Boehner v. McDermott, a decade-long saga of sleazy behavior by a Congressman that threatened to damage freedom of the press.” (READ MORE)
WSJ - Hot Topic: Obama's Auto History “Barack Obama blew into Detroit on Monday, where he offered a tart indictment of "the tyranny of oil" and, by extension, the U.S. automotive industry. ‘For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American auto makers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars,’ he declared.” (READ MORE)
Steve Malanga: Rebuilding Ground Zero “Larry Silverstein began spending every morning at the World Trade Center shortly after he inked a 99-year deal to operate the complex in July 2001. The New York developer would have breakfast at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the 107th floor of the North tower, and then meet for several hours with tenants. But on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he was at home, dressing for a doctor's appointment his wife had made for him, instead of at his usual table at Windows.” (READ MORE)
Amy Proctor: Military Recruitments Shockingly High Despite War “Bottom Line Up Front: U.S. troops support the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite the war of words over ‘supporting the troops’ in Iraq, the troops are speaking for themselves through recruitment and retention rates, which are through the roof. The Defense Department released yesterday it’s April 2007 Recruitment and Retention figures.” (READ MORE)
Michelle Malkin: Church sign about Islam offends Muslims “Several North Carolina readers send word of this WRAL report about a church in Spring Hope that is rankling local Muslims. The church's sign is causing controversy: Well, as Robert Spencer has noted, Muhammad did in fact command Muslims to subjugate, convert, or kill non-Muslims (see, e.g., Sahih Muslim 4294). And salvation in Jesus Christ is certainly not the message of Islam.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: Optimism and Pessimism “The news offers more than the usual opportunities for optimism and pessimism today, usually within the same stories. Optimism allows for a brighter outlook on the future; pessimism tends to minimize the risk of disappointment. When given the choice, in the short to medium term, it is more pleasant to take an optimistic view, but when your money is involved, it is more prudent to take th pessimistic view. In the long term it is always better to take an optimistic position since the alternative is nihilism.” (READ MORE)
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