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)
Study Says Foreigners In U.S. Adapt Quickly - Immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations, according to a study released today. (READ MORE)
Senate Talks Collapse On a Housing Bill - Hope dimmed yesterday that Congress would act quickly to rescue homeowners at risk of foreclosure after key Republican and Democratic negotiators in the Senate said they could not reach agreement on a plan. (READ MORE)
American Admiral Takes Plea To Burma - BANGKOK, May 12 -- The head of the U.S. Pacific Command flew into Burma on Monday aboard the first U.S. military aid flight, to press for a full-scale international relief operation for victims of Cyclone Nargis. (READ MORE)
Back to the Land, Warily - NEAR CHERANGANY, Kenya -- In the fertile Rift Valley region last week, convoys of army trucks began returning thousands of farmers to their fields. (READ MORE)
Deadly quake strikes China - One of the deadliest earthquakes in a generation struck the heart of giant-panda country yesterday afternoon, killing nearly 10,000 people and trapping at least 900 students beneath a collapsed high school. (READ MORE)
Conflicts derail key apartheid case - Conflicts of interest on the U.S. Supreme Court prevented four of nine justices from ruling on an important apartheid case yesterday, forcing more than 30 major corporations to defend themselves against lawsuits accusing them of supporting South Africa's former racial policies. (READ MORE)
Obama not at home in W.Va. - Here in the Mountain State, where faith, firearms and patriotism are bedrock, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is failing to connect, trailing in the run-up to today's primary election by 40 points in some polls. (READ MORE)
Cindy McCain lags with public image - The latest Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll asked Americans which mother has "had the most positive influence on America," and Mrs. McCain trailed the pack, with just 4 percent — well below Mrs. Obama, Mrs. Clinton and top-choice first lady Laura Bush. (READ MORE)
Barr to woo Libertarian base for funds - Bob Barr's bid for the Libertarian presidential nomination will rely on tapping into his adopted party's faithful to donate over the Internet and on their distaste for the ways of Washington. (READ MORE)
Druze plead for U.S. help in Lebanon - Druze Lebanese, under fire from Hezbollah fighters, pleaded with the United States for an emergency airlift of weapons over the weekend, illustrating growing fears among Christians, Sunni Arabs and Druze that the hard-line Shi'ite militia was preparing to take over the entire country. (READ MORE)
McCain's Climate 'Market' - The latest stop on John McCain's policy tour came at an Oregon wind-turbine manufacturer, where the topic was – what else? – the Senator's plan to address climate change. This is one of those issues where Mr. McCain indulges his "maverick" tendencies, which usually means taking the liberal line. That was the case yesterday, no matter how frequently he claimed his approach was "market based." (READ MORE)
FEC Food Fight - The food fight continues over the Federal Election Commission, which is fast looking like the feud between Delta House and the Omegas in "Animal House." Where's an adult like Dean Wormer when you need him? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday again demanded that President Bush drop Hans von Spakovsky as a nominee to the FEC, which supervises campaign-finance rules. (READ MORE)
Dorgan's Content Play - They'll say anything in Congress, but even by that standard Mr. Dorgan's claim could use some fleshing out. What in this world of crashing media business models is he talking about? We should note that News Corp., the owner of this paper, is surely one of the major media companies he has in mind. And to stop such companies from acquiring more properties... (READ MORE)
Kiwi Climatology - Global-warming alarmists tend to understate the true costs of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. So give credit to New Zealanders, who seem poised to give the rest of us a real-life illustration of those costs. This month, Wellington is debating a cap-and-trade scheme to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets. Because New Zealand is already a low carbon-dioxide emitter, the bulk of its emissions come from agricultural sources, such as, well, sheep. (READ MORE)
Hanoi on Trial - In Vietnam, arguing that people deserve an alternative to the Communist Party is considered terrorism. Three men, including a U.S. citizen, go on trial for this "crime" today in Ho Chi Minh City. The case dates back to November 17, when police broke up a small, peaceful meeting of democracy activists. Among those arrested were Nguyen Quoc Quan, a U.S. citizen; Somsak Khunmi, a resident of Thailand; and Nguyen The Vu, a Vietnamese citizen. (READ MORE)
Playing Chicken - A drive to boost the $1 trillion trans-Atlantic trading relationship may land in the ditch over a couple of hundred million dollars' worth of poultry. American chicken meat has been barred from the European Union for 11 years because it is cleaned with a low-concentration chlorine rinse. Brussels doesn't allow this wash in Europe on environmental grounds, but even if you buy this claim, the meat is handled in the U.S. and doesn't hurt the European environment. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Mark Helprin: The Challenge From China - Even as our hearts go out to the Chinese who have perished in the earthquake, we cannot lose sight of the fact that every day China is growing stronger. The rate and nature of its economic expansion, the character and patriotism of its youth, and its military and technical development present the United States with two essential challenges that we have failed to meet, even though they play to our traditional advantages. The first of these challenges is economic, the second military. They are inextricably bound together, and if we do not attend to both we may eventually discover in a place above us a nation recently so impotent we cannot now convince ourselves to look at the blow it may strike. (READ MORE)
Lance Armstrong: How to Win the War Against Cancer - "What a difference a day makes." It's a phrase we often hear, and like many clichés, it has some elements of truth. A single day can turn the tide and lead to victory. And today, the fifth annual LIVESTRONG Day, the Lance Armstrong Foundation is asking every American to join our united front against cancer and help make beating this disease a national priority. Cancer affects every person in this country. (READ MORE)
Sam Brownback & David Blankenhorn: End the Welfare Marriage Penalty - What if the federal government forced couples to pay 20% of their annual income just to get or stay married? And suppose a couple could avoid this tax if they either got a divorce or never got married in the first place? Does it sound like good public policy to force a couple earning, say, $60,000 a year to pay $12,000 just for being married? That's more or less what we demand of millions of low-income Americans who receive government welfare benefits. (READ MORE)
Bret Stephens: From Lebanon to Hezbollahstan - On Friday, Hezbollah gunmen set fire to the Beirut offices of Future TV, a Lebanese broadcaster. On a purely symbolic level, it was an apt demonstration of where the Party of God stands in relation to the future itself. But that wasn't the worst of what has happened in the past week in Lebanon, where scores of people have been killed in interfactional violence. More ominous was the role of the Lebanese army, avowedly neutral and nominally under civilian control. "An army officer accompanied by members of Hezbollah walked into the station and told us to switch off transmission," an unnamed Future TV official told Reuters. So much for army neutrality. (READ MORE)
William McGurn: What's So Odd About Religious Colleges? - It's tough to run a college these days. It's tougher still when you set high standards. And it's toughest of all when those standards reflect an Ozzie and Harriet morality in a Sarah Jessica Parker world. Just ask the folks at Wheaton College. Wheaton is a Christian college that takes its beliefs seriously. These beliefs are embodied in a "Community Covenant" that all must sign and live by if they hope to teach or study there. (READ MORE)
Thomas Sowell: Too "Complex"? - Some people think that the reason the public misunderstands so many issues is that these issues are too "complex" for most voters. But is that really so? With all the commotion in the media and in politics about the high price of gasoline, is there really some terribly complex explanation? Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries-- India and China-- having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply? The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains. (READ MORE)
Dennis Prager: If On the Wrong Track, Why Go Left? - Today's most widely accepted political belief is that because an unprecedentedly high percentage of Americans -- 81 percent -- believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the Republicans are headed for a major defeat this coming November. If this is the case, it can only be because the American voter translates "headed in the wrong direction" as "because the Republicans have had their way, so it's time to let the Democrats have theirs." That should not be the case. I count myself as one of the 81 percent who believes America is headed in the wrong direction, and that is precisely why I am voting Republican. Moreover, I suspect I am not alone among the 81 percent in ascribing the wrong track to the leftist, not the conservative, influence on American life. (READ MORE)
Ed Feulner: Gas Prices and the Blame Game - With fill-ups routinely costing $60 or more, cost-conscious drivers naturally look for someone to blame. And just as naturally, politicians are happy to blame others. Enter “Big Oil,” the demagogues’ favorite villain. Gas prices soaring? It’s because oil companies want “excess profits,” as Barack Obama puts it. Right? Wrong. The truth is more complicated. Let’s look to California, driving capital of the world. Officials there watch gas prices carefully. During March and April, a state analysis found that “distribution costs, marketing costs and profits” made up about 10 cents of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, which ranged from $3.46 to $3.89. Notice that that dime is less than 3 percent of the total retail cost, and profits account for only part of it. (READ MORE)
Cal Thomas: In Defense of 'Big Oil' - With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That's because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of entitlement, and when one feels entitled to something, one believes someone else should pay. Senate Democrats last week sought to ingratiate themselves with voters, while doing nothing to produce more energy, with a familiar attack on "big oil." (READ MORE)
David Limbaugh: John McCain and the Global Warming Train - If John McCain were truly a maverick, he would publicly break from the politically correct culture that demands obedience to its global warming narrative. But sadly, he continues to do the opposite. Liberals have denominated McCain a maverick because he has taken so many positions contradictory to his party's platform and to the conservative ideology that undergirds it. Now that he is the putative Republican nominee, you don't hear much about his maverick nature, but it's certainly not because he's changed his ways in opposing his party. Last week, he affirmed his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, even though earlier he stepped back from it to curry favor with conservatives. One wonders what other shoes will inevitably drop should he win the presidency, especially because he has indicated he would most likely be a one-termer. (READ MORE)
Chuck Norris: Has the US Run Amuck Constitutionally? - Who decides whether war continues or not in Iraq? Some might answer Gen. David Petraeus. Others might say Congress. But most probably believe the president has oversight of foreign and war policies. After all, he is the commander in chief, correct? But to whom did our Founders point? They believed the president's duty is to carry out policy, not make it -- something that is the duty of Congress. That is why so many strict constitutionalists have labeled our battles in Iraq as unconstitutional. Many accuse our president of not only going to war without a congressional declaration but also making other unilateral international policies. On the other hand, pro-Bush allies say executive government officials always have initiated emergency war decisions, such as in Korea and Vietnam. Still others say Iraq is a continuation of the same Middle East war that began in Afghanistan. (READ MORE)
Frank Pastore: Questioning "An Evangelical Manifesto" - On May 7, the 19-page “An Evangelical Manifesto” was released, along with its 29-page study guide. Many good and wonderful people are among the 77 charter signatories. But, I’ve got a bunch of red flags and question marks—not about its theology, its call to piety and integrity, or its encouragement to walk more intimately and consistently in the way of Jesus. That’s all good and really nothing new. My concerns are with what is new: its political agenda. As with any manifesto, declaration, or statement, I want to know what this means in real world terms. How will this impact the way I live? How will (or should) this change my behavior or influence the behavior of others? What does this mean in terms of specific policies—how will we prioritize and therefore spend limited resources on specific areas of concern? Should I adjust my evangelical priorities? (READ MORE)
Rich Lowry: The Obama Rules - If Barack Obama gets his way, the Oxford English Dictionary will have updated its definition of "distraction" by the end of the campaign: "Diversion of the mind, attention, etc., from any object or course that tends to advance the political interests of Barack Obama." After his blowout win in North Carolina last week, Obama turned to framing the rules of the general election ahead, warning in his victory speech of "efforts to distract us." The chief distracter happens to be the man standing between Obama and the White House, John McCain, who will "use the very same playbook that his side has used time after time in election after election." Ah, yes, the famous distractions with which Republicans fool unwitting Americans. Ronald Reagan distracted them with the Iranian hostage crisis, high inflation and unemployment, gas lines and the loss of American prestige abroad. (READ MORE)
Steve Hunt: Build and Design Critical Military Programs Here at Home - Having spent quite a bit of time up close and personal behind various tankers in the back seat of Navy F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft, I am well aware of the tactical importance of the nation’s air refueling capability. As the Combat Direction Center Officer onboard the USS Enterprise during Operation Preying Mantis against the Iranians in 1988, I coordinated the airborne refueling of the Big E’s aircraft that drained two KC-10s and could have used more. I vividly remember having little fuel to give two returning low fuel fighters after the KC-10’s had left. As a past director of the modeling and simulation for the USAF future capability wargame, and senior systems analyst supporting DoD for the last 12 years, I am very familiar with the operational and strategic importance of air refueling capabilities to our ability to project power in support of our foreign policy. (READ MORE)
Tom Tancredo: Real Change Requires Real Honesty - While Newt Gingrich is correct in warning that Republicans in Congress face formidable odds in November, his proposed nine-point "action plan" does not measure up as a solution to the crisis. Some of Newt's assumptions are undeniably sound, such as the folly of hitching congressional campaigns to McCain’s non-existent coattails. And it is true that the Republican Party's crisis is the result of "catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans." What are missing from Newt's plan are policy measures that match his apocalyptic rhetoric. Of Newt's nine proposals, only a few attack major problems. Yes, declaring English our official language would be a giant step forward, and educating the public on the freedoms at stake in federal court appointments is a winner. (READ MORE)
Amanda Carpenter: Sen. Kyl Forecasts Dem Floor Strategy - Republican Whip Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) predicted Democrats would soon pass an expensive war spending bill knowing President Bush would veto in order to help their election prospects in November. By doing this, Democrats “get the political benefit of a presidential veto and then say we would love to spend all the money, but the president wouldn’t let us,” Kyl said on a conference call Monday afternoon. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up a supplemental war spending bill Thursday. Democrats are making a push to include $11 billion extra in unemployment benefits and $1 billion more for education funding for war veterans. “Extension of unemployment compensation has nothing to do with defense spending, it’s something the Democrats want to put on just about every bill they can,” Kyl said. (READ MORE)
John Boehner: Farm Bill Yet Another Example of Democrats' Broken Promises on Earmark Reform - There’s something fishy in the Farm Bill, and taxpayers should beware. It’s a $170 million earmark for the salmon industry, quietly tucked into the mammoth bill at the last minute by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). I don’t know much about the salmon industry. Perhaps Pelosi and Thompson can explain why it was necessary to earmark $170 million of the taxpayers’ money with no public scrutiny or debate. The earmark wasn’t in the House-passed Farm Bill or the Senate version; it was simply “air-dropped” into the final bill in secret. The Farm Bill has often been abused by politicians as a slush fund for bizarre earmarks and wasteful spending projects, and the latest version up for a vote on the House floor this week is no different. (READ MORE)
Lawhawk: Different Disasters, Different Responses - With the Chengdu earthquake occurring in Central China just 10 days after Cyclone Nargis slammed into Burma, it's worth looking at the immediate response from those countries to the disaster and needs of the people. However, before we get to analyzing the response, one needs to keep in mind that the junta in Burma had advance warning of an impending landfall of a major cyclone. They had several days to prepare for the landfall, and yet it's become all too apparent that the junta did little to warn people along the coastline to prepare for the storm, or to prepare an emergency response to deal with the aftermath. From the moment the cyclone came ashore, the junta has done everything imaginable to control the process of disbursing aid to survivors, even to the point of seizing aid shipments so that humanitarian groups could not deliver the aid directly. (READ MORE)
A Soldier's Mind: Deployment: It’s A “Family Affair” - Often, when we think about families and deployments, we think about spouses, children, parents and siblings, waiting at home while their Soldier deploys, constantly worrying that their Soldier will return home safely and without injuries. It’s not very often that we hear of relatives deploying together. It just doesn’t happen that often. When my youngest son deployed to Kosovo in 2000, I was often asked if I worried about him deploying to that environment. My answer to that question, was always, “Not really.” I really didn’t worry, because I knew that my brother was part of his National Guard unit and that he would do his best to ensure that he was okay. (READ MORE)
Big Dog: Democrats fail to control government spending - The Democrats promised to have an open government and to clean up the mess left by Republicans after 12 years of control. The Republicans brought the mess on themselves by turning into Democrats and increasing the size of government and the associated spending. Now that the Democrats have taken control spending continues to escalate even with record revenue to the treasury. April saw an increase in revenue fueled by the tax deadline, a date where Americans demonstrate their lack of freedom by paying the government the fruits of individual labor. A total of $403.8 billion dollars was taken in by the government in April but spending for the month was higher than in April of last year. (READ MORE)
Dafydd: Greed Is Good - and Sometimes, So Too Is Corruption - One of the joys of writing a blog is the opportunity it gives to mock one's enemies. In this case, we rise to mock the naiveté of the Associated Press... which is shocked, shocked to discover bribery and corruption in the Arab Middle East. (Of course, the other possibility is that AP knows its point is asinine yet mendaciously makes it anyway, hoping to fool its liberal readers.) AP claims to have just realized, to it's spiritual horror, that Iraqi officials are often corrupt... and that the Bush administration, rather than fall off its high horse, declaim about purity of essence, and order mass arrests of everyone from the Iraq prime minister on down, instead turned a blind eye to low-level skulduggery in order to give the new Iraqi government time to become much more stable -- as it has: (READ MORE)
Walid Phares: Lebanon's "300" - While the West is busy living its daily life, a beast is busy killing the freedom of a small community on the East Mediterranean: Lebanon. Indeed, as of last week, the mighty Hezbollah, armed to the teeth with 30,000 rockets and missiles and aligning thousands of self described “Divine soldiers” has been marching across the capital, terrorizing its population, shutting down media, taking its politicians and the Prime Minister as hostages, and looting at will. The hordes of Lebanon’s “Khomeinist Janjaweeds” have conquered already half of the Middle East’s cultural capital, Beirut. As I have reported before, Hezbollah has occupied West Beirut and has since sent its storm troops in multiple directions to resume the blitz. (READ MORE)
Confederate Yankee: Corners Turned - Moqtada al-Sadr, the figurehead leader of the Mahdi Army that fled to Tehran long ago, has lost Basra. It must have been heartbreaking for the New York Times to make the admission that the Iraqi Army and Police had pounded Iranian-back Shia militias and criminal gangs into submission, but give them credit; they did report it. Iraqi and American forces continue to pound gangs and Iranian-trained and equipped "Special Groups" in the massive Baghdad slum called Sadr City. Fighting continues despite al-Sadr's impotent call for a truce, and an "anaconda strategy" of squeezing out combatants while choking off of their resupply lines continued, as a wall slicing off the southern end of the slum reached 80% completion. (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Smacking Down Newsweek - John McCain's campaign evidently wasn't too happy with Newsweeks recent Obama-gasm cover story. So, Mark Salter, one of McCain's senior advisors decided to shoot off a response to the story to Newsweek. To their credit they printed it, since it paints them (rightfully so) in a horribly biased light. Salter calls out not only Newsweeks shoddy job of reporting and fact checking, but the Obama campaign, DNC and a few 527 groups and Unions. It's about time someone did. In the letter Salter, and McCain's team basically tossed off the gloves, and said enough tap dancing around. Instead of asking talk radio folks to shut up when they decided to scream "Barack HUSSEIN Obama", it sounds as though McCain's will probably ignore it, and let Obama deal with it. (READ MORE)
Dr. Sanity: HEROES AND VILLAINS - Thomas Sowell discusses the supposedly "complex" dynamics of supply and demand: “Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries-- India and China-- having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply? The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains.” Somehow, people have come to equate "heroism" with indulgent self-righteousness and appeals to victimization; and "villainy" with market forces. It is a formula that is tried and true in political circles, particularly on the political left, but all politicians these days suffer from the malady. But what are "market forces"? And what is "supply and demand" all about? They are about millions of individual actions; the behavior of each and every person going about their daily business, pursuing their own happiness--for good or ill-and making choices. (READ MORE)
Kit Lange: Patriot Ledger Ignores Evidence, Says Sgt Hutchins Should Stay in Prison - [This entry is part 13 of 13 in the series Pendleton 8] I read the following screed about Sgt Lawrence Hutchins this afternoon and was so disgusted I had to sit down and write a counterpoint to it. This could get long, so grab a cup of coffee and have a seat. We’re going to go through this line by line, so the holier-than-thou folks at the Patriot Ledger who wrote this trash can figure out just how stupid this article is. I’d name the article’s author, but he was too much of a coward to put his name on it. This editorial is actually the only one currently on the Enterprise News Opinion page without a name on it. Interesting, isn’t it? But let’s get started. “Compassion is an essential element of justice, but U.S. Rep. William Delahunt’s plea to free a Plymouth Marine convicted of murdering an Iraqi civilian is beyond mercy and sends a horrible message about what we will allow our military members to do in the name of combat.” With this opening statement, the author throws any fairness, truth, or even interest in justice out the window. (READ MORE)
GayPatriotWest: How Bush has allowed his critics to Frame Iraq Debate - Earlier this month, I read a piece on Powerline by John Hinderaker which pretty much corresponded to my own views of why the president’s approval remains so low. Like me, he “traces it back” at least as far as the summer of 2003 when the Administration failed to respond to he dishonest statements Joe Wilson made in his New York Times Op-ed and later media appearances, claiming the president lied us into war. John wrote: “One can trace it back at least as far as the 16-words controversy. President Bush may be correct in believing that history will recognize his achievements, but history will also record that his administration’s inept efforts at self-defense resulted in a Democratic Congress that is poised to do severe damage to America’s economy and national security.” (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Come and see the bigotry inherent in the (Democratic) system! - Victimology continues in the identity-politics meltdown of the Democratic primaries. The Washington Post profiles racist incidents that young campaigners for Barack Obama have experienced, but fails to note that they occur within the context of a Democratic contest. Meanwhile, women continue to push for Hillary Clinton as a means of breaking through the ultimate glass ceiling, putting gender ahead of qualifications on the priority list. Doesn’t this count as “distractions”? (READ MORE)
Kim Zigfeld: Russia's Putin in Full Neo-Soviet Frenzy Mode - In the lead-up to Russia's comical-yet-obscene parade of obsolete, creaking Soviet-made military hardware through Red Square last week, the dictator Vladimir Putin declared that his nation would soon surpass the United Kingdom in terms of GDP. Putin stated: "Russia is currently standing in seventh place in the world. According to international experts, it can climb another step as early as this year and overtake Britain." It's possible this is the most repugnant and ridiculous falsehood Putin has ever told, and that's really saying something. A statement so misleading, on so many levels, could only come from a proudly ignorant and fundamentally dishonest KGB spy like Mr. Putin. (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Irresistible Forces, Immovable Objects - The New York Times had an interesting piece the other day. Edward Luttwak, writing in their op-ed section, brought up something that had only been brushed upon before: is Senator Barack Hussein Obama an apostate in the eyes of many of the world's Muslims? Going by a strict interpretation of Muslim law, the answer is inescapable: yes. And under Muslim law, Luttwak notes, apostasy is quite possibly the greatest sin and crime. The prescribed penalties are the most extreme offered by Muslim law: death, in a truly brutal fashion. Beheading is the normal means, but stoning and hanging have been offered as alternatives. How does Barack Hussein Obama qualify as an apostate under Muslim law? (READ MORE)
Information Dissemination: We Need To Strongly Consider the Vision... - This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read, and I'm not even sure I believe it is true or being used in the proper context. Navy Times is covering the complaints of the Maine mafia, who by the way have every right to be mad and concerned. Bath Iron Works is unquestionably critical to shipbuilding, but they should have been waving the red flag on $3.6 billion ships (and we all know they would be much higher) from the beginning. Sailing down a dream is for Disneyland, not the shipbuilding industry, and both Bath and the Senators new better. This comment is just golden in its stupidity, naturally said by a politician. (READ MORE)
This Ain't Hell: Ceasefire agreement doesn’t cease fire - The Mahdi Army signed a ceasefire agreement yesterday that promised the Iraqi government access to Sadr City if they promised not to send in US troops, but according to The Washington Times, the Sadrists aren’t keeping their word; “‘It doesn’t look like a cease-fire to me,’ said Maj. Kyle Ferger, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment. ‘Just last night there were more than a dozen [incidents] along the wall.’ The wall, made of 12-foot-high concrete slabs, was begun in mid-April to block Shi’ite extremists from infiltrating the two neighborhoods using cross streets along al-Quds to fire rockets at the Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government, U.S. military and diplomatic headquarters. Citizens can still travel between the southern and northern sections of Sadr City, but would have to use three main roads where Iraqi soldiers search vehicles for weapons and munitions.” (READ MORE)
Kat in GA: Love From Home - UPDATE MAY 13 2008 - Good morning, y'all! Just wanted to make y'all aware of a few "troop support" events coming soon to Loganville and a big announcement, as well! :) First and foremost -- over the next few months, we will be seeking to make "Operation Love From Home" an actual non-profit entity. For many years, I've conducted nation-wide card-and-care package drives for our deployed troops as an individual effort, working together with many friends from our community. Recently, the law firm I work for has offered to do the work of getting us set up as a 501(c)(3) corporation pro bono. It will be several weeks yet before the paperwork is started and filed due to the fact that this is a pro bono case (freebie!) and I have to wait until the attorney has time to work on the matter. (READ MORE)
Warner Todd Huston: AP: Military Hits Recruiting Goals Despite ‘Slow Economy,’ and ‘Unpopular War’ - Don’t you just love the MSM? They can’t even report good news without interjecting their doom and gloom, agenda driven verbiage into any report. This time it is the Associated Press with the good news that the Marines and the rest of America’s armed forces have reached their recruiting goals. In fact, many branches of the service exceeded them. All good news, right? Well, naturally the AP had to throw some cold water on the good tidings. You see, according to the AP the Marines fulfilled their recruiting goals because of a “slow economy” and despite Iraq being an “unpopular war.” They just can’t let it go, can they? After giving us the details that the Marines surpassed their recruiting goals the AP had to remind us that U.S. forces were “stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” and that those joining the service are doing so because — and here is that old canard again — “other job possibilities” are limited for them. (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: No Good Options – “A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.” - Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) Annie Hall (1977) Alvy Singer could have been talking about totalitarian and expansionist states. Totalitarian states cannot tolerate the openness necessary for prosperity because as people emerge from subsistence living, they naturally become less tolerant of constraints on their freedoms and eventually bump up against the limits established by their leaders. We see this in China, where greater openness and burgeoning wealth are leading people to demand a greater role in their lives, which will eventually translate into greater concern about their environment and demands for greater accountability from their leaders. (Note the rapid response to the earthquake in China versus the nonresponse to the cyclone in Myanmar.) A totalitarian state can thus either remain closed and poor (Myanmar, North Korea) or open up and risk evolution or revolution. However, there are two other alternatives: (READ MORE)
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