A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
On the Web:
A Newt One: JOHN MCCAIN, BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE IS UNTHINKABLE - The title of this post is taken directly from Atlas Shrugs and in a round-about way, from Neocon News. Approximately 35+ people were in the chat room during a Blog Talk Radio Show with Political Pistachio. The guest was Atlas Shrugs. Listen to the archive of that very important discussion. It will not be a waste of your time or energy. However, the show isn't what this post is about. It is about the Conservative Movement, John McCain and principles. (READ MORE)
Lawhawk: The Gaza War Continues - While the New York Times and other outlets lead with the fact that Israel continues to pound Hamas positions with airstrikes, it curiously omits the reason that Israel is firing at Gaza in the first place. Israel kept up its airstrikes Thursday against militants in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas continued to fire heavy barrages of rockets at Israel , one day after an Israeli civilian was killed in a rocket attack. That death was the first such fatality in nine months. (READ MORE)
Ace of Spades HQ: Smart people can be real retards - There's this story here about the rise of autonomous military robots. What struck me about this piece is a quote from University of Sheffield professor Noel Sharkey “...detachments that will include 150 soldiers and 2,000 robots. The use of such devices by terrorists should be a serious concern, said Sharkey. Captured robots would not be difficult to reverse engineer, and could easily replace suicide bombers as the weapon-of-choice. ‘I don't know why that has not happened already,’ he said.” (READ MORE)
The Anchoress: A Clintonian Conundrum - Does she stay in the race and face a mortifying loss next Tuesday or does she get out with some dignity and credibility still intact? As analysts declare that Hillary Clinton needs to win, and win soundly, in Texas and Ohio in order to remain even remotely viable in the race for the Democrat nomination, Drudge is promising a “developing” story claiming Barack Obama has garnered a four percent lead over Hillary in Texas . A drubbing next Tuesday would be the supreme mortification. To go from presumed-and-inevitable to castaway in a matter of months may forever weaken the Clinton brand, both here and abroad. It could impact both the Clinton ’s powerbase and profits. (READ MORE)
The Armorer: An Open letter to Anyone Who Served in Vietnam - This is well-intentioned, heartfelt, and, of course, a little late - but better late than never, as I said when I forwarded this to my favorite Vietnam Veteran. His response was not what I expected, though in retrospect, it doesn't surprise me. Truly the forgotten soldiers of a forgotten war. Here's what he said: "Its never for most of those who served in an even bloodier and more uncomfortable although shorter war in Korea , who got about the same reception when they came home." (READ MORE)
Pamela Geller: Obama and Islam: The Third Rail in American Politics - I am not a racist. Tough to prove a negative. But I refuse to dhimmi down and STFU. Too much is wrong. Obama's narrative is being altered, enhanced and manipulated to whitewash troubling facts. The web is being scrubbed of Obama's ties to Islam. But America will know the truth even if the mainstream media refuses to touch the third rail. The racist charge is fallacious - Islam is not a race, but why split hairs, right?) America should be skeptical. America should question - intensely. We are in the fight for our lives against an enemy that has vowed to destroy us. Good faith is not good enough. My objective is to unearth Obama's relationship to Islam. Islam is a political ideology and it is incompatible with democracy. (READ MORE)
The Barnyard: On The Other Side Of The Aisle - Oh boy, the Democratic convention in Denver is going to be grand, attended I am sure by the glitterati of Hollywood and their oohing gaggle of attendees. I wonder if they will let their base in and by base, I mean the Code Pinkos, but more on that later, mean while this is the gentleman they they are swooning over. I think this is the same video my friend Gayle posted that she notified me about but I haven't been to her site yet to see. I snagged this from Hot Air where I saw it this morning but I will give Gayle credit anyway just because. Make it virile! Anyway back to the Code Pinkos, ANSWER, etal, guess what they are planning to do? Oh this is sweet, they are staging a "Recreate '68" rally, you know all the anti-war commies and hippies gather to stink up the joint, pun intended, break a few windows, and disrupt traffic for a week with their clown parade during a Party Convention. (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Politics rears its Iraqi head - Today brought some bad news for the Surge. " Iraq 's three-member presidency council has rejected a draft law to hold provincial elections and returned it to parliament, the president's office said on Wednesday." Fortunately, the other two laws which were part of the reform package "the 2008 federal budget and a general amnesty" passed. But "the law to hold provincial elections has not been approved and has been sent back to the parliament". Max Boot argued the fact that "80,000 Iraqis, primarily but not exclusively Sunnis" had joined the Sons of Iraq "after having fought Iraqi and coalition forces" was "the best evidence" that real reconciliation was waiting to happen on the ground. Unfortunately they will have to wait a little longer. (READ MORE)
Dafydd: Say - Maybe Democrats Will Sue to Force McCain Off the Ticket! - The New York Times is practically begging them to do so, on the grounds that McCain -- born in the Panama Canal Zone -- may not be a "natural born citizen": “Mr. McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a ‘natural-born citizen’ can hold the nation’s highest office. Almost since those words were written in 1787 with scant explanation, their precise meaning has been the stuff of confusion, law school review articles, whisper campaigns and civics class debates over whether only those delivered on American soil can be truly natural born. To date, no American to take the presidential oath has had an official birthplace outside the 50 states.” And why was McCain born in the Canal Zone ? Because that's where his father -- then-Lieutenant (later Admiral) John Sidney McCain, jr., USN -- was stationed in 1936. (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Obama Getting Bad Military Advice - Jack Jacobs at MS-NBC wonders who Barack Obama has as his military advisers. Based on his answers at the debate, Jacobs suggests replacing them at the first opportunity. No one expects a presidential candidate to be an expert on ground combat, but at the very least candidates can hire a few: “But last week, during his debate with Clinton, Obama tried speaking about substance when he mentioned the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he displayed an astounding ignorance of the military instrument. He said that an anonymous U.S. Army captain told him that his infantry platoon was split and sent to different areas of operations; that they were lacking vehicles; and that they had insufficient ammunition to fight.” (READ MORE)
Dennis Lormel: Terrorists and Credit Card Fraud a Quiet Epidemic - A few weeks ago while conducting research for a client; I came across a newspaper article from Toronto that immediately caught my attention. It reported the arrest of four men on charges of debit and credit card fraud for possessing numerous gift cards containing bank account and debit information from individuals in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Further investigation found laptop computers and memory sticks containing bank information for thousands of U.K. bank customers. What resonated was the fact the four subjects were believed to be associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) aka, the Tamil Tigers. In November, I was in Toronto and met with a credit card fraud expert. I inquired as to whether he observed a nexus between credit card fraud and terrorists. (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Name Calling Politics and Smears - Yesterday's buzz in the political world was Bill Cunningham, host of "The Big Show, With Bill Cunningham" repeatedly referring to Barack Obama at a John McCain rally as Barack Hussein Obama (the Senator's given name). Everyone this side of Mars knows the reason, it's to try and get folks to think (wrongly) Obama is a covert Muslim agent or some other silliness. McCain repudiated the remarks, rightfully so, and spoke out pretty forcefully against Cunningham, who today tossed his hat into Hillary Clinton's ring. My though, good, she deserves you. When I heard the story my first thought was that Cunningham has been reading too many blogs, on both sides of the aisle, that think name calling is some sort of "good thing". It's not. (READ MORE)
Noah Shachtman: Air Force Blocks Access to Many Blogs - The Air Force is tightening restrictions on which blogs its troops can read, cutting off access to just about any independent site with the word "blog" in its web address. It's the latest move in a larger struggle within the military over the value -- and hazards -- of the sites. At least one senior Air Force official calls the squeeze so "utterly stupid, it makes me want to scream." Until recently, each major command of the Air Force had some control over what sites their troops could visit, the Air Force Times reports. Then the Air Force Network Operations Center , under the service's new "Cyber Command," took over. (READ MORE)
Dr. Sanity: Why John Donne was Wrong – “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. --John Donne, Meditation XVII” On the whole, I consider myself extremely pro-human--radically so, in fact. I've spent most of my professional life as a psychiatrist being "involved in Mankind". And, when you think about Donne's quote above, it boils down to the reality that when you define the essence of what it means to be 'human' or a part of 'mankind'; it define thee. (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Enough rope - Republicans decide to let Democrats hang themselves on Iraq . Having watched Harry Reid and company squander about a third of the legislative session last year on attempts to cut off funding for our troops in Iraq , Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell switched gears this week. Instead of filibustering the latest attempt by Russ Feingold to withdraw the troops from Iraq , McConnell said, let the debate begin. Just what America needs on C-Span: 30 hours of teeth gnashing and snort ripping. McConnell told CQ: “They’re the ones who want to turn back to the subject, we’d like to spend the time talking about the dramatic improvements in Iraq .” (READ MORE)
Fortress of Solitude: The New Ice Age - I am about to share a news story with you. Despite any impressions you may get from this article or any conclusions that you may draw from it, always remember one thing. No matter what happens with our climate, it is all caused by Global Warming. After all, that is what the Church of Global Warming has been trying to convince us of. Freak snow storms or extreme heat waves? Global Warming. Increased hurricane activity or a complete lack of hurricanes? Global Warming. Bridge collapses and decreases in African circumcisions? Global Warming (I really wish I was kidding about that, but it’s true). So, we all know that no matter what happens, it is all due to Global Warming. With that in mind, I give you this story from DailyTech: (READ MORE)
Ft Hard Knox: McCain VP Pick - I have certainly been a vociferous critic of John McCain. I don’t like the man, I don’t trust him and I think he is bad for both the Republican Party and the country as a whole. But the fact is, he’s going to be the GOP nominee, that much is certain. The real question is, can he beat Obama in November. From my perspective, choosing between McCain and Obama is like choosing between a firing squad and hanging. I’d prefer not to have to make that choice. As it stands now, I don’t think McCain can beat Obama and the cult of personality. Obama just has so much charisma and McCain is just crotchety. The only possible salvation for a McCain candidacy might be his VP pick. (READ MORE)
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