A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Va. Tech Criticized In Massacre Probe - The panel appointed by the governor to investigate the massacre at Virginia Tech is critical of the university's response to the shootings and its treatment of Seung Hui Cho, concluding that lives could have been saved if officials had issued an alert sooner that a gunman was on campus. (READ MORE)
Terrorism Policies Split Democrats - A growing clamor among rank-and-file Democrats to halt President Bush's most controversial tactics in the fight against terrorism has exposed deep divisions within the party, with many Democrats angry that they cannot defeat even a weakened president on issues that they believe should be front and... (READ MORE)
Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals - Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequatel... (READ MORE)
Planned Crackdown on Immigrants Denounced - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO this week separately assailed a new White House-backed crackdown on illegal immigration, warning of massive disruptions to the economy and headaches for U.S. citizens if the proposal goes ahead as planned in the coming days. (READ MORE)
Sadr Orders 'Freeze' on Militia Actions - BAGHDAD, Aug. 29 -- The powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr publicly ordered his huge militia Wednesday to "freeze" operations for up to six months, but U.S. and Iraqi officials expressed skepticism of the cleric's intentions and his ability to control the fractured network of fighters who kil... (READ MORE)
Property Tax Flood - The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina arrived yesterday, with the White House disclosing that U.S. taxpayers have chipped in no less than $127 billion (including $13 billion in tax relief) to rebuild the Gulf region. That's more than the GDP of most nations. (READ MORE)
Shi'ite Leader Declares Cease-Fire - Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr yesterday ordered a six-month "freeze" of activities by his Mahdi Army, a militia accused of attacking U.S.-led forces and operating "death squads" against Sunni Arabs. (READ MORE)
FairTax Efforts Popular in GOP - After Rep. Steve King endorsed a national sales tax to replace the federal income tax during his first run for Congress, his own campaign coordinator told him his candidacy was over. (READ MORE)
Katrina Collects a Bundle - The flow of federal dollars to the Gulf Coast two years after Hurricane Katrina already exceeds what the U.S. spent on the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. (READ MORE)
Virginia GOP Plans Bills to Curb Illegals - Virginia Republicans yesterday said they will push five proposals aimed at illegal aliens in next year's General Assembly. (READ MORE)
Economy Grows at Fastest Pace in a Year - The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing. (READ MORE)
Study: Democrats Get More A.M. Airtime - A media watchdog organization charged Wednesday that the network morning news shows have spent considerably more time this year on Democrats running for president than on Republicans. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Michael J. Totten: Front-line lessons from the Iraq surge - While American politicians bicker among themselves from eight time zones away about whether the surge led by Gen. David Petraeus is working or not, I returned to Iraq to see for myself. This trip - from which I returned this month - was my fourth reporting stint in the country since the conflict began. And this time, what I saw was overwhelming, undeniable and, like it or not, complicated: In some places, the surge is working remarkably well. In others, it is not. And the only way we will know for sure whether the tide can be turned is to continue the policy and wait. (READ MORE)
Matt Sanchez: Dora in World Net Daily - It was a very nice street. The residents of Dora came out as the 1-4 Cav walked down the mostly paved road. Paving a road is a good sign of safety in Baghdad, where deep-buried IEDs are deadliest. An Army staff sergeant explained how the terrorists liked to burn tires over a pressure-plate IED and set it off under an unsuspecting Humvee. This street had no pressure plates, but plenty of residents who had felt the pressure of day-to-day life. (READ MORE)
Jason's Iraq Vacation: Perspective - As Marvin Gaye's voice crooned through my head phones, I closed my eyes and all of the sudden I was in a different place. "Mother, mother. There's too many of you crying . .." It was the happiest day of my life; I was dancing with my mom and as I glanced over at my beautiful bride, all I could think was, I am truly a lucky man. I opened my eyes and stared at the cracks my ceiling, stuck back in a reality I couldn't drag myself out of for more than a couple minutes at a time. (READ MORE)
Jake's Life: The More Things Change... - I guess you could say the more things change the more they stay the same. I came back from Iraq with a different CO and XO, different Company Gunny, a different platoon commander, and different squad leaders. Your basic top to bottom reshuffling of company leadership. I would have hoped that maybe things would be run differently upon our return. (READ MORE)
Bill Ardolino: Headed Out - I'm off to Kuwait tomorrow, followed by a brief stop in Baghdad and then Fallujah. "Space Available" military travel could take 2-4 days, so expect posting from Iraq to start early next week. (READ MORE)
Calvey in Iraq: Long Days - Greetings from Baghdad! Working long days again. Typically, in the mornings, I suit up in my body armor in the morning, lock and load my M9, and head out into the Red Zone. In the afternoons I am usually back at the shop, completing paperwork on the day’s events and preparing for upcoming days. (READ MORE)
Jeff Emanuel: All Combat Zone Journalism is NOT Created Equal - The recent headline-grabbing announcement that, in an effort to bolster the network’s sagging ratings, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric will be coming to Iraq for 12 days in September has, as it should, caused new attention to be cast on combat zone journalism. However, amidst all of the hubbub and hoopla about the ‘danger’ of her trip to Iraq, it is important to draw a distinction between what Ms. Couric and the majority of her colleagues in the media are doing, and what others in Iraq are contributing, information-wise, to the debate. (READ MORE)
Michael Yon: Ghosts of Anbar, Part III of IV - A Model for Success - The presence of the rule of law is a major factor in assuring voluntary acceptance of a government’s authority and therefore its legitimacy. A government’s respect for preexisting and impersonal legal rules can provide the key to gaining it widespread, enduring societal support. Such government respect for rules—ideally ones recorded in a constitution and in laws adopted through a credible, democratic process—is the essence of the rule of law. As such, it is a powerful potential tool for counterinsurgents. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Michael Reagan: The Craig Affair: Rampant Hypocrisy - Listening to Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig proclaim in near-thundering terms that he is not gay and never has been gay, I couldn't help but recall hearing Bill Clinton swear he "did not have sex with that woman." (READ MORE)
Mike S. Adams: Of Mice and Mormons, Part IV - On July 10, 2004, Mr. Ford met with Professor Wetchler to explain that he would choose another topic for his thesis. Wetchler encouraged Mr. Ford to consider two topics: (1) the relationship between differentiation and religiosity; and (2) the relationship between identity foreclosure and intolerance. (READ MORE)
Lisa De Pasquale: Liberal Women Struggle to Find Broad Appeal - It was no surprise last week when GreenStone Media announced the end of its all women, all whining, all the time radio network. In the year since its inception, GreenStone only had 11 stations that carried its programming. The mainstream media was positively orgasmic when GreenStone launched in late 2006. The network was backed by investors like Gloria Steinem, Rosie O’Donnell, Billie Jean King and Jane Fonda who all ponied up $3.1 million. (READ MORE)
Ken Blackwell: Obama’s Attack - In light of recent polls, pundits have speculated that Sen. Barack Obama will need a miracle to win his party’s presidential nomination. After offending many of the nation’s ministers, priests and rabbis in a speech this summer, he’d better have a direct line to the Almighty. (READ MORE)
Rebecca Hagelin: Making the Right Connections - You can’t send two sons off to college, as my husband and I now have, and expect them to succeed if you haven’t taught them some sense of self-reliance. Indeed, that virtue has long been recognized as a foundational mark of the American character. It enabled our forefathers to establish a nation that still serves as a beacon of freedom to the world. No free republic can survive without it. (READ MORE)
Michael Fumento: To Lengthen Thy Life, Ignore the Fatophiles - To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals: So observed Benjamin Franklin centuries ago. But Franklin didn’t comment on whether food intake restriction worked by keeping people thin or by making them thin. Indeed, it’s become a mantra of the ‘size acceptance’ groups that there’s no scientific evidence that losing weight increases longevity. And it’s been true - until now. (READ MORE)
Jacob Sullum: The National Intelligence Director Explains Why Bush's Critics Have Blood on Their Hands - Because he's resigning, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales won't have much chance to exercise his powers under the Protect America Act. The new law charges the attorney general with determining which international communications involving people in the U.S. will be subject to warrantless surveillance. (READ MORE)
William Rusher: The Shape of September - September is shaping up to be a major month for American foreign policy. President Bush, having quite responsibly (in my opinion) taken America into Iraq in 2003 to cope with what appeared to just about everyone to be a serious nuclear danger, quickly discovered that the danger was in fact nonexistent. (READ MORE)
Donald Lambro: Anti-incumbent Strategy Buoys GOP - Republicans face another hostile political climate next year, but GOP congressional election strategists think they may have found a way to overcome it. (READ MORE)
Linda Chavez: Abuse of Power - Sen. Craig's political career is probably over. The abuse of power, however, was not Sen. Craig's but the media's, who pick and choose whose privacy they will violate on a partisan basis. (READ MORE)
Emmett Tyrrell: The media's mood turns foul on McCain - The foul mood could deny voters what should be a stimulating presidential match-up, McCain against his Republican rivals and then maybe against the Democratic nominee. (READ MORE)
Ann Coulter: Reno 911 - Right-wingers like me never trusted Gonzales. But watching Hillary Rodham Clinton literally applaud the announcement of Gonzales' resignation on Monday was more than any human being should have to bear. (READ MORE)
Tom DeLay: Tom DeLay's Action Points: Tell NBC "Shame on You" - I have a very important mission for all of you. Our good friend's at Freedom's Watch are running a $15 million ad buy calling on the American public to tell members of Congress to support full funding of the war in Iraq. (READ MORE)
David Strom: Prices Too High? Raise Taxes! - For most of us, life is pretty simple. If there isn't enough of something and prices skyrocket, the last thing we would think of is limiting the supplies even more and raising prices by slapping even higher taxes on it. (READ MORE)
Allen C. Guelzo: From the Pulpit, Powerful Words - A sermon is like a symphony. Both are first written out and then can be read (in words or musical notes), studied and discussed as though nothing more were necessary. But in the end, a sermon is written to be preached, just as symphonic music is written to be performed. What ultimately determines the quality of both (sermons and symphonies) is the effect of their performance on a listener. (READ MORE)
Daniel Henninger: Media Showers - Last month--though it feels as if it were last year--a large Snowman (depicted below) got to ask the Democratic presidential candidates a question about global warming. CNN solicited questions through YouTube, the amateur video Web site, because YouTube is, in some as-yet-undefined sense, "the future." A senior CNN executive said, "There are questions that we, the journalists, we, the mainstream media, would never think to ask in the presidential debate." That's for sure. Afterward, there was commentary on whether the Snowman's video had dumbed down the political process. (READ MORE)
War Historian: Can They Say That? - I am a 7th Cavalryman. That is to say, within the Army, my personal regimental affiliation is with the 7th Cavalry Regiment. All soldiers are aligned with one regiment, though in this day and age that is largely an ornamental designation. In my case it came about because I commanded within the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry. Because of this, and because of my interest in history, I am effectively the de facto active-duty regimental historian. That is how I know the honorary colonel of my regiment, retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore. (READ MORE)
McQ: Changing views question Global Warming Consensus - DailyTech has a story up today which argues that the scientific community has begun to back away from the "consensus" view that supports the theory that humanity is responsible for global warming: "In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the "consensus view," defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Oreskes’ work has been repeatedly cited, but as some of its data is now nearly 15 years old, its conclusions are becoming somewhat dated." (READ MORE)
Cassandra: Poverty In The U.S. - Apparently, it isn't what it used to be: “Five years into a national economic recovery, the share of Americans living in poverty finally dropped. The nation's poverty rate was 12.3 percent in 2006, down from 12.6 percent a year before, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Median household income increased slightly, to $48,200.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Campaign Finance Reform: A Modest Proposal - With the news that one of Hillary Clinton's biggest fundraisers is a criminal fugitive, I've been thinking about campaign finance reform. And I think I have a fairly simple set of ideas that ought to clean up politics a bit. The basic concept uniting all these is simple: "sunlight is the best disinfectant." No games, no tricks, no shenanigans will be tolerated, and everything will be as open and aboveboard as possible. (READ MORE)
Jim Addison: Richard Jewell dead at 44 - Richard Jewell, the hero who saved many lives at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 only to become a suspect in the bombing, has died at age 44, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: “Jewell was initially lauded as a hero after a bomb went off on July 27, 1996, during an Olympic celebration in Atlanta. He called attention to the suspicious knapsack that held a bomb and helped evacuate the area.” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: Brave Aussie artist creates composite image of Mohammed and Hitler - No no, of course not. She’s all about challenging perceptions … in the safest, least challenging way possible, of course. A close-up plus the ever daring Mary-in-a-burqa shot are here, if you care. My advice: if you’ve a hankering to see a religious icon insulted, skip this lowbrow crap and spend the time reading Hitchens’s new column on Mother Teresa instead. Quote: (READ MORE)
Bryan Preston: The Hillraisers: Another day, another fugitive - His name is Abdul Rehman Jinnah, 56, originally from Pakistan. He allegedly funneled loads of money to the Clinton campaign, stood accused of same, and fled to Pakistan. In May, he surrendered to the FBI, flew back to the US to answer the charges against him, and collapsed in court. (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Bush's Led Zeppelin is taking off - Upon losing both houses in Congress last fall, President Bush decided to change the course in Iraq and go for broke. Bush's plan went over about as well as Jimmy Page's idea for a rock group. It fell not just like a lead balloon, but a lead zeppelin, which is how Led Zeppelin got its name. Columnist Bob Novak, in his New Year's Day column, said the Surge was in trouble. (READ MORE)
Rhymes with Right: Will Liberals Complain About These Police State Tactics? - Probably not -- after all, they want to grab your guns, and the mere fact that these police officers and city officials violated Virginia law and the Second Amendment won't bother them a bit. “More than 100 gun-rights advocates, most carrying handguns on their hips and wearing buttons saying "Guns Save Lives," came to the City Council on Tuesday night to protest what they called harassment of law-abiding gun owners by city officials. The protest was called by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, after Chet Szymecki of Yorktown was arrested in June at Harborfest for carrying a gun.” (READ MORE)
California Yankee: What About The Other $977,000? - Democratic presidential wannabee, Hillary Clinton, will donate to charity $23,000 of the contributions she has received from her fugitive fundraiser. Why only $23,000? The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Hillary's fugitive fundraiser, also known as Norman Hsu, has raised over $1 million for Hillary's Presidential campaign: (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Two Years Later - Yesterday, as I was driving to and between jobs, I got to listen to all the hoopla on the radio about the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. There are of course, lots of problems still in New Orleans, and the rest of the Gulf Coast area. There are also huge contrasts between the recovery in Louisiana and Mississippi. The contrasts are startling, to say the least. In Mississippi only 25% of the people originally put up in FEMA trailers still live in them, in Louisiana that number is over 60%. Mississippi. (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Another National Health Care System Horror Story - The lack of facilities in a national health-care system has resulted in the death of a newborn. Japan, whose system has been cited as a model for the United States to consider, has few medical facilities in their rural areas, and the lack of obstetricians led one couple to be turned away from eight hospitals when the mother-to-be went into labor: (READ MORE)
Pros and Cons: Alberto Gonzalez’s legacy is the fight over Presidential control of the executive branch. - Unsurprisingly, I think The Wall Street Journal has the legacy of one of our least aggressively partisan AGs ever about right in a trule great story, and also in this editorial. The relevant news story by Evan Perez (ABC’s The Note agrees that it should be read by all, actually leading with this excellent piece and thus puts outside the subscription-only barriers of WSJ.com) actually covers the fight over Presidential control of the recalcitranbt beurocracy even better. (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: Bias? What Media Bias? - After all the sound and fury, the bombastic rhetoric thrown around by Democrats over the supposed partisanship of Fox News, comes this stunner of a study done by the conservative Media Research Center about coverage of the presidential campaigns on the three biggest morning shows on television. In a word; mindboggling: “The study found that 55 percent of campaign stories on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “The Early Show” and NBC’s “Today” focused on Democratic candidates while only 29 percent focused on Republicans. The remaining 16 percent were classified as “mixed/independent.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: Whose Fault Is It When Palestinian Kids Get Killed? - Here's the slant from USA Today on 3 Palestinian kids being accidentally killed by the Israelis: “Three young Palestinian cousins were killed Wednesday in northern Gaza in what the Israeli army said was an attack on rocket launchers aimed at southern Israel. The incident could set back peace efforts, just a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Jerusalem to try to move the process ahead.” Ehr..."set back peace efforts?" (READ MORE)
Meryl Yourish: Israeli Double Standard Time, Temple Mount version - Say, remember that worldwide media blitz about how Israeli archeologists were going to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque by building a new ramp to the Temple Mount? Remember the incredibly biased stories that insisted on minimizing the Temple Mount’s meaning to Jews and maximizing the Muslim connection? Remember how there were stage-managed riots about the Temple Mount ramp? Well, the AP has finally noticed that Jews are outraged that the Islamic Waqf, who frankly should not be in control of a toy model of the Temple Mount, is now digging a 500-yard trench in the Temple Mount complex, destroying precious artifacts, and once again trying to “prove” there are no Jewish ties to the Temple Mount complex. And the AP is aiding and abetting, by adding even more bias to their piece. (READ MORE)
Dafydd: The "Maturity Mask" Slips - UPDATED With Embedded YouTube - Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA, 80%) has a very, very serious problem: He is a moderately liberal Democrat in a fairly neutral district (WA-3), a district that narrowly went for George Bush in the last two presidential elections. First elected in 1998 by 55%, he won his last three elections by more robust percentages of 62-63%. Baird was handily reelected even in the two years that his district voted for George W. Bush. Cook rates WA-3 as D+0. He was opposed to the Iraq war from the very beginning, voting against it at every turn. (READ MORE)
A Soldier's Mind: Insurgents Prey On Vulnerability Of Youth - In the United States, we look at our children as the future of our Country. Because of their youth and the vulnerability that goes with their youth, we’ve always been taught to protect the children, to nuture them, teach them right from wrong and encourage them to learn and grow. In Iraq, by the insurgency, children are often looked upon as pawns in their deadly game, someone that the insurgents can exploit and manipulate, someone that to them is an expendable commodity. (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Looking ahead at the Shi'ite militias - The recent Brookings trip report to Iraq believed abuses by Shi'ite militias were turning the population against them and pushing communities into the arms of the Coalition. The fighting that just ended between Shi'ite militias in Karbalah, and which forced not only the curtailment of the lucrative pilgrimage but the declaration of a curfew is a perfect example of how not to make friends and influence people. (READ MORE)
Democracy Project: NYT’s Hasn’t Heard Of Innocent ‘Til Proven Guilty - A few days ago I wondered about the “little or no reflection by the major media on their own hysteria” about Haditha. The latest rumination from the New York Times, instead, with squad leader SSgt Wuterich’s Article 32 hearing beginning, wonders why the entire U.S. military justice system can’t seem to agree with its hysteria. Generalizing from its own partial and hasty viewpoint the NYT’s says, (READ MORE)
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