Congressman Ramstad Comes Out in Opposition to the Flight 93 Memorial

Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) gave a House speech this month, supporting Mr. Burnett's opposition to the crescent design. The speech is entered in the Congressional Record here, along with supporting statements from Tom Burnett Sr. (father of murdered Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett Jr.).

That makes two Congressmen now who have come out publicly against the crescent memorial. (Tom Tancredo took the lead last November, asking the Park Service to choose a completely new design.)

News coverage revs up confrontation at this Saturday’s public meeting

Ramstad's speech, and our ongoing petition drive, netted a full width banner headline on the front page of the Somerset Daily American, with the story continuing full width on an inside page as well. This high profile local news coverage should make for an interesting Memorial Project meeting at the Somerset County Courthouse this Saturday. Several critics will be speaking during the public comment period, and the first batch of petitions will be delivered in bulk (over 5000 signatures to date, 4700 online and 500 on paper).

The Daily American article includes lots of powerful language from Mr. Burnett and other critics of the crescent design, along with some remarkably disingenuous evasions from the usual defenders. Most egregious is Patrick White, vice president of Families of Flight 93, who tries to pretend that the criticisms of the design are all about Mr. Burnett trying to get an undemocratic "do over" after failing to stop the Crescent of Embrace design when he served on the design competition jury.

While on the jury, Mr. Burnett only complained about the giant Islamic shaped crescent and the minaret-like Tower of Voices . No one on the jury, including Mr. Burnett, knew anything about the Mecca orientation of the giant crescent; or about the placementof the 9/11 date in the exact position of the star on an Islamic crescent and star flag; or about the 44 glass blocks on the flight path; or about the fact that the Tower of Voices turns out to be a year-round accurate Islamic prayer-time sundial.

Not that the jury is beyond reproach. It was bizarre for these family members and design professionals to plant a bare naked crescent and star flag on the graves of our murdered heroes, but given everything that the jurors did NOT know, this configuration at least COULD have been an accident. What came out after the design was selected is absolute proof of terrorist memorializing intent, with every Islamic and terrorist memorializing feature being repeated in the Tower of Voices portion of the memorial.

One example is the 38 Memorial Groves. (There were supposed to be 40.) By itself, it is merely suspicious that the arc of 38 groves can be seen as a set of 19 nested crescents: one for each 9/11 hijacker. But architect Paul Murdoch proves this terrorist memorializing intent by surrounding the Tower of Voices with a second set of 19 nested crescents. And on it goes. EVERYTHING gets repeated in the Tower of Voices , and the 93 foot tall Islamic sundial is itself a very precise structure that could NEVER occur by accident.

Patrick White wants to dodge all this by pretending that the controversy is about the initial jury decision, instead of the ensuing blindness to voluminous evidence of terrorist memorializing intent. No one exemplifies this willful blindness better than Patrick White himself.

Patrick White denies the Mecca orientation in public while admitting it in private

At the July 2007 Memorial Project meeting, a critic of the crescent design engaged Mr. White in private conversation, asking how he could be unconcerned about the Mecca orientation of the giant crescent. White's reply was to suggest that this orientation cannot be seen as a tribute to Islam because the inexactness of it would be "disrespectful to Islam." (The crescent points 1.8° north of Mecca , ±.1°.)

But this isn't what White was telling the public. That same week, Patrick White told the press that all of the claims about Islamic symbolism had been thoroughly investigated and been found to be untrue and "preposterous." In private, White was acknowledging the almost exact Mecca orientation of the crescent and making excuses for it, while issuing sweeping denials in public.

He is still doing the same thing. He KNOWS that the giant crescent points almost exactly to Mecca , yet claims that such "assumptions," have been "repeatedly shown-to-be-false." In fact, not a single factual claim about what is in the design has ever been rebutted. If the crescent did not point to Mecca , it would be trivially easy to demonstrate. This is a simple geometric claim. But all the Memorial Project has ever offered is unsupported denials, denials that they acknowledge in private to be FALSE.

Patrick White’s dishonest attack on Tom Burnett

The jury process is irrelevant. No one is criticizing it. The jurors bear no responsibility for hidden Islamic and terrorist-memorializing features that they knew nothing about when they chose the crescent design. If it were not for two ugly bits of misinformation, put forward by Patrick White in his effort to make the jury process the issue, there would be no reason to mention the jury process at all. Both of White’s falsehoods are aimed at discrediting Tom Burnett Sr.

1. In the Daily American article (half way down) White claims that Mr. Burnett: “gave his consent to support what the majority picked.”

Mr. Burnett was incensed in 2005 when the Memorial Project announced that the jurors had united behind the majority choice. Without ever consulting with Mr. Burnett, the Memorial Project wrote in their jury report that: "By consensus the Stage Two jury forwards this section of the Flight 93 memorial to the partner [Paul Murdoch] with the full and unqualified support of each juror." Tom has been trying to correct the record ever since, and Patrick White OUGHT to know it.

2. White also claims that: “No one agreed then with Mr. Burnett’s preferred choice for a final design.”

"To the contrary" says Mr. Burnett, "the vote not unanimous; it was 9 to 6." Five people were with Mr. Burnett in rejecting the crescent design. This on a jury made up of 8 design professionals and 7 family members. It could even be that a majority of family members opposed the Crescent of Embrace. Tom requested the vote tally in a formal letter to the Memorial Project which was never answered. Now Patrick White throws the vote tally in Tom’s face, and completely misrepresents it.

3. Bonus badness. White claims that: “Jurors gave all of Mr. Burnett’s concerns a complete airing.”

In fact, the design professionals on the jury tried to shut Mr. Burnett up. Tom Sokolowski, director of Pittsburgh 's Andy Warhol Museum called Mr. Burnett “asinine” just for noticing that the crescent is a traditional symbol of Islam. This overt hostility to Mr. Burnett’s concerns is not what most of us would call “a complete airing.”

So no, the jury process is not the issue here, but if it were, it couldn't stand up to scrutiny either.

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From the Front: 04/30/2008

News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.

In their own words:
Sergeant Grumpy: Medics lead the way - The NY Times has a touching slide show about a medical clinic run to help the people of Sadr city. There are hundreds of great stories of Army Medics and Doctors who have treated Iraqis with compassion and kindness that never get told. At least here is one. “An Iraqi boy who was shot by insurgents while walking to a bakery is brought in to the clinic for treatment. According to eye witnesses the attackers shot seven children, killing four.” Mahdi Murderers. When a young child who was shot or a wife who was badly burned is treated, all the vapid debate in Washington, all the stupid heated arguments by the uninformed on the left and the right, all that goes away. (READ MORE)

LT Nixon: Iraq News (30 April) - The Good: Iraq's major source of income is oil exports, and with the crackdown on militias/smugglers in Basrah coupled with the high price of crude, they are set to reap a windfall of dinars. Whether or not their government spends it wisely is a whole nother ball of wax. US involvement in Sadr City is deepening (which used to be off-limits more or less), and with that there will need to be a whole new level of service initiatives along with the combat operations. More good news from Basra as there are a resurgence of weddings (despite the author of this blog being grouchy about such occasions back in the states). The Bad: Another female suicide bomber strikes, this time attacking in Diyala province. (READ MORE)

Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Playing with new toys - We recently received some new toys and, unfortunately, have had opportunities to break them as we break them in. The Afghan National Police mentor team and the Afghan National Army embedded training team each received two MRAPs each. The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicles, as the name implies, are meant to be safer than the up-armored Humvees against both mines and ambushes. Though we are leaving, I got to spend some time as a truck commander, a driver and a gunner in the new vehicle. The MRAPs have had a good track record in Iraq over the last several months and they have started arriving downrange in Afghanistan. (READ MORE)

Fearless 1st Marines’ blog; 'All-access Pass’: Fallujah bridge demilitarized - FALLUJAH, Iraq (April 24, 2008) – Coalition and Iraqi Security forces are diligently working together to aid Iraq in its pursuit of becoming an independent state. Progress is being made daily with keeping al Qaeda in Iraq at bay and transferring security responsibilities to the Iraqi people, allowing Coalition forces to focus more on demilitarizing positions and transitioning out of Iraq. An example of such progress is the demilitarization of Fallujah’s New Bridge by the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment April 24. Formerly used for military traffic only, the bridge has now opened it’s roadways to the rest of city’s populace. (READ MORE)

Fearless 1st Marines’ blog: Sisters of Fallujah break barriers, build security - FALLUJAH, Iraq – Entry control points (ECP) throughout Fallujah are designed to protect the city from harm and prevent people from transporting illegal contraband such as weapons and explosive materials. Coalition forces discovered the enemy exploiting the cultural sensitivity precluding the search of females by having females carry contraband into the city. Coalition forces then employed female search teams from units such as Combat Logistics Battalion-1 to alleviate the threat of women being used to sneak contraband such as electrical devices, wires, and other bomb making material. This still posed a problem as the female Marines could only be pulled away from their primary duties for short periods. (READ MORE)

Tina Susman: Girls go to war, on the sports field - Najaf is best known for its holy Shiite shrines and lately for the fear and intrigue that have taken hold among its religious leaders as different factions compete for power and influence over Iraq's Shiite south. But this week, it has become the center of a different kind of competition: among girls and young women vying for athletic awards from the minister of education. The eight-day competition began April 26 and has brought teams from 11 southern and central provinces to compete in volleyball and soccer. Suaad Saqab Kamil, who oversees women's sports in the Ministry of Education, said it's the first time the competition has been held since the start of the war five years ago. (READ MORE)

DocintheBox: Playing with new toys - Sorry about the blogging hiatus, I’m in the process of shutting down my old laptop and getting my new one spun up and backing up everything twice. This is the first laptop that I’ve actually maxed out the RAM and it books. I’ve taken it though it’s paces and haven’t been able to find anything that really slows it down. Even when it had 2 gigs of RAM, editing a half hour movie only caused a few second pause and processing the movie? 15 minutes. There still is a dent in my wallet but like everything, it’s a speed bump in the past since I did have the spare change sitting around. There were no loans or credit card payments to worry about. (READ MORE)

Badger 6: Compare and Contrast - This Individual Ready Reserve Soldier with the one I posted about yesterday. This Soldier and his wife are clearly less than thrilled and I understand that. If you browse away from this blog thinking I think people should be happy about being called out the IRR, then you are missing the point. Commentor Trailblazer had different point of view, which, if I read him correctly is that there are more people who could serve on active duty. I don't disagree that it would be a desirable to have more people want to serve in the US Armed Forces, but absent compulsory military service that is not going to happen. I think most people that want to serve in the military do anyway. (READ MORE)

The Angry American: TWOTS - Blessed are the days that we are released at noon. By the way which is like everyday so far. It sure is nice too let me tell you. Today we did PT for the first time as a squad (which is a bit of a fluke cuz were not supposed to do organized PT until after block leave). I've been running and biking a little on my own to try to get back into shape. Apparently humping around all sorts of heavy shit is a lot different then running in short shorts and a PT shirt. I took the guys on a slow run around the hill. As we neared one of the motor pools and explosion went off which for a split second had us ducking our heads a little. "Thats fucked up!" was the consensus. It was pretty funny though. Block leave is getting closer to becoming a reality and I very much so plan to set up a slide show on here if anybody still reads. (READ MORE)

Major John: Having Drawn Breath - I am back at the Iraqi Army location where I normally work. I managed to spend a couple of days at a much larger, British run place - while it wasn't exactly a vacation (I ended up doing a bit more work than I had anticipated) it was nice to be someplace where everyone spoke English - of a sort, heh heh. I am still working on comprehension of some of the stronger Scottish accents and terms. Now comes the work of incorporating the lessons the Iraqi Army has learned from Basrah. Also, tying up some loose ends (they still are running some ops) and making sure everyone is up to date with equipment and such. Should keep us busy for a while to come. (READ MORE)

Phil Peterson: In Pictures: MEDEVAC missions in Afghanistan - At Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, more than 90 percent of the Medical Evacuation, or MEDEVAC, missions are to help Afghans, both local nationals as well as Afghan National Army soldiers. The patients who take these flights have medical emergencies and need to be transferred to a full-service hospital. The hospital at Bagram Air Field is prepared to handle most medical issues that may arise in the field or on base. The MEDEVAC crews transfer everything from very ill children to gravely wounded soldiers and civilians. The medics are as efficient as they are compassionate. Despite tight quarters, the medics attend to their patients’ medical needs while making their patients as comfortable as possible. (READ MORE)

Matt Dupee: Kapisa province: The Taliban's gateway to Kabul - One day prior to the deadly Taliban assault against the heavily guarded April 27 Mujahidin Victory parade in Kabul, a US raid 75 kilometers north of the capital attempted to disrupt an insurgent commander’s operation to disrupt the ceremony. US and Afghan forces conducted a search of several compounds in the Tag Ab Valley, an infamous insurgent stronghold in Kapisa province, in an effort to locate a Taliban leader suspected of facilitating a number of deadly attacks against security forces and who was suspected of planning an attack against the Mujahidin Victory celebration. The raid also aimed to disrupt local insurgent roadside bomb cells. A suicide bomb vest was discovered during the search and removed from the area. (READ MORE)

David Wood: Rules of engagement - When the Alpha Company’s position here in Garmsir came under RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and small arms fire, the effect was like thwacking a beehive with a baseball bat. Angry Marines boiled up in a swarm, weapons up, ready for revenge. I mean, one Marine wondered, who’d be dumb enough to fire at a bunch of Marines … and MISS??? The attackers appeared to be two young men on a motor bike. A couple of Marines who’d been on watch, on the roof of a mud-walled farmer’s compound, had seen them a quarter mile away, riding back and forth, eyeing the Marines. One Marine said he thought one had something on his back that looked like an RPG but he couldn’t be sure. (READ MORE)

Toby Nunn: Daddy OUT! - Reagan does a great job of sending me pictures of everything I am missing at home. Our little creepy crawly (born on Halloween) Scarlett is already sitting up on her own and can stand semi assisted. I look at the pictures often ranging from peanut to little person often to keep things in perspective for me. I have also been thinking about some of what has gone on around me now and in the past. I also read a great post by Bouhammer (1SG Troy Steward) not too long ago talking about his feelings as his son followed in his footsteps and headed to combat. I have pondered this myself several times about what I will say to the boys when that conversation comes up, will I support it or will I discourage them. One thing that I never really thought about until recently was what would I say if Scarlett asked me or joined the military. (READ MORE)


Back but still writing:
This War and Me: An Important Tool - Sorry it has been so long since my last entry. I have been doing well. It has been almost three months since I returned to the US and I think I have fully adjusted. I owe most of it to my girlfriend who has been with me through it all. There was a time early on when large crowds made me uncomfortable and I spoke of how 'over alert' I was. We went to the mall one day and had lunch at the food court. I remember her talking and I was listening to her and scanning the room with my eyes looking for I don't know what. Then I noticed her reach over and hold my hand and just looked at me and talked to me in a calm voice as her eyes stared right into my soul. Everything around me just faded away and I couldn't focus on anything but her. (READ MORE)

A Battlefield Tourist: Marine KIA Creates Dilemma For VMI - On April 17th, in Panjwaii District, Kandahar Province, a US Marine convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, killing two Marines and wounding two others. The convoy was on its way to southern Helmand Province where the 26th MEU has recently started combat operations to retake the Taliban-held town of Garmsir. The Marines killed included the top-ranking enlisted man for the 24th MEU, acting Command Sgt. Major, 1st Sgt. Luke Mercandante. Before joining the 24th MEU, Mercandante served as an instructor at the Virginia Military Institute for three years. (READ MORE)


News from the Front:
Iraq:
MND-B soldiers relentless in pursuit of criminals - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers killed at least six criminals, detained three, and destroyed anti-Coalition force arms overnight and into the early morning of April 30 in separate incidents in Baghdad. At approximately 10:40 p.m., April 29, while patrolling in Istiqal Qada, MND-B soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 68th Combined Arms Battalion, were investigating the site of a reported improvised explosive device when they spotted two criminals attempting to recover an explosively formed penetrator. The 1-68 Soldiers engaged and killed the two men. An explosive ordnance team responded and disposed of the IED. (READ MORE)

Sons of Iraq capture key terrorist - BAGHDAD – The strong working relationship between Multi-National Division – Baghdad and the Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) led directly to the capture of key terrorist at approximately 9 p.m. April 28. During a meeting with a local sheik and other citizens, a Sons of Iraq member indicated that a known key terrorist was nearby. The SoI member detained two suspects and turned them over to MND-B soldiers for further identification. (READ MORE)

Two wanted men captured in northern Iraq - BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured two wanted men and detained two additional suspects while targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq operatives in northern Iraq Wednesday. Continuing to use information gleaned from an operation Apr. 21, Coalition forces captured two suspected AQI terrorists in Mosul. One of the suspects is a wanted man who is believed to directly conspire with several senior terrorist leaders in the city, including one who is known to conduct attacks against Coalition and Iraqi Security forces. (READ MORE)

Explosions target ISF and civilians in northern Kirkuk City - TIKRIT, Iraq – Kirkuk’s Provincial Joint Communications Center reported two attacks utilizing Improvised Explosive Devices occurring in the northern portion of Kirkuk City, April 29. The first attack occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. with early reports stating three Iraqi Army personnel and six civilians were wounded. The IED was placed on a route frequented by morning commuters. (READ MORE)

Tikrit SWAT unit capture leader of AQI cell - BAGHDAD – The Tikrit Special Weapons and Tactics unit, advised by U.S. Special Forces, detained a suspected Al-Qaeda in Iraq cell leader during an operation in the Qadasiyah neighborhood of Tirkrit, approximately 96 miles north of Baghdad, April 28. Tikrit SWAT conducted the raid to detain the leader of an improvised explosive device cell known for conducting attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces between Tikrit and Coalition Operating Base Speicher. (READ MORE)

Tip leads to anti-aircraft gun, ammunition in Jurf - BAGHDAD – A tip led Multi-National Division – Center Soldiers to a cache containing an anti-aircraft gun and over a hundred 37 mm rounds April 27 in the al-Hujierr area of Jurf as Sakhr, 40 kilometers south of Baghdad. Soldiers from 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, used intelligence gathered from Sons of Iraq to locate the cache. At the site the unit was assisted by a local resident who had an excavator to help them dig. The unit later compensated the resident for his help. (READ MORE)

Iraqi humanitarian operation helps citizens (Jadidah) - TIKRIT, Iraq – A successful Iraqi-led humanitarian operation was held in the town of Jadidah, Mosul Province, April 29. The operation, a gathering between Iraqi Army leadership, the Jadidah sheik and informal leaders, was held to counter al-Qaeda in Iraq’s information operations, defaming Iraqi and Coalition forces. Over 200 children and over 130 adults received humanitarian assistance in the form of dry foods, water, vitamins, clothes, comfort items, toys and athletic gear. (READ MORE)

Iraqi Lieutenant Gets Prosthetic Limb from Coalition Forces - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — At approximately 12:46 p.m., Jan. 10, everything changed for one Iraqi Army Special Forces platoon leader. While on a joint mission with Coalition forces, the 8th IA Division Soldier was struck by an improvised explosive device as he crossed a pedestrian footbridge on the east side of Route Minnesota in the Chaka Four Region. (READ MORE)

Refurbished school opens in Salman Pak - The only secondary school for girls in the Salman Pak area opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 24. Leaders of the Salman Pak Council, the Iraqi Army, the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, gathered in Salman Pak for the ceremony, which marked the completion of a $200,000 project initiated Feb. 28. (READ MORE)


Afghanistan:
Detained Zabul province militant identified - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Coalition forces have released the identity of an insurgent detained during an operation conducted last month to disrupt militant operations in Zabul province. The insurgent, Hajji Abdul Majid Khan, was apprehended during the operation in Qalat District. Khan, 55, was detained March 3 during an operation targeting him. (READ MORE)

Web Reconnaissance for 04/30/2008

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)
Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars - CHARLES CITY, Iowa Erwin Johnson picks up a clump of the dark, rich soil that he has farmed for 35 years, like his father and grandfather before him. In a few months, this flat expanse of northern Iowa will be crowded with corn ready to be trucked to market. (READ MORE)

McCain Offers Market-Based Health Plan - TAMPA, April 29 -- Sen. John McCain on Tuesday rejected calls by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, instead offering a market-based solution with an approach similar to a proposal put forth by President Bush last year. (READ MORE)

U.S. Role Deepens in Sadr City - BAGHDAD, April 29 -- A four-hour battle Tuesday between U.S. soldiers and Shiite militiamen left at least 28 Iraqis dead in the capital's Sadr City neighborhood, making it one of the bloodiest days in a month of sustained street fighting. (READ MORE)

Bush lays gas blame on Congress - President Bush blamed the Democratic Congress for blocking bills he said would have lowered gas prices, marking a coordinated strategy with congressional Republicans to shift responsibility for the nation's economic woes to Democrats. They, in turn, were quick to strike back. (READ MORE)

Air marshals grounded in list mix-ups - False identifications based on a terrorist no-fly list have for years prevented some federal air marshals from boarding flights they are assigned to protect, according to officials with the agency, which is finally taking steps to address the problem. (READ MORE)

Gates: Carrier in Gulf is Iran 'reminder' - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf could serve as a "reminder" to Iran, but he said it's not an escalation of force. (READ MORE)

Obama 'outraged,' 'insulted' by pastor - Sen. Barack Obama yesterday broke with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., saying he was "outraged" and "insulted" by his former pastor's racial and anti-government rants — rhetoric he said he did not hear the pastor use in church. (READ MORE)

D.C. anti-gang effort: Call them 'crews' - D.C. officials insist on describing groups of young males as "crews," rather than gangs, even when they are held responsible for violent acts such as the wave of killings in the city last weekend. But police officials in other cities say the word play distinction is counterproductive. (READ MORE)

McCain's Progress - The Grand Guignol between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has to end eventually, and then the public discomfort over health care will resurface as a genuine policy dispute between the Democratic and Republican nominees. For a man whose heterodoxies have no doubt triggered GOP heartburn, John McCain delivered another speech yesterday on health care that offered a sophisticated set of policies that could lead to some of the most constructive changes to the system in decades. (READ MORE)

The Miley Cyrus Uproar - Readers with little girls at home don't have to be told who Miley Cyrus is. Their daughters want to be Miley Cyrus. The Disney Channel singer/actress is the star of "Hannah Montana," one of the most popular shows on TV. Her latest album is No. 3 on Billboard magazine's bestseller list. Reports estimate that she will bring in $1 billion in business to Disney this year. (READ MORE)

No, Spasiba - So the Kremlin can't buy every retiring European leader. Romano Prodi, for one, won't soon be bunking with Gerhard Schröder in Moscow. Vladimir Putin personally tried to tap the outgoing Italian Prime Minister to become chairman of South Stream, a new pipeline project by Russian gas monopolist Gazprom to link Russia to Europe. Mr. Prodi was "flattered" by the offer, his spokesman said, but won't be available. (READ MORE)

Obama Gains - His back against the wall over his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama yesterday addressed the issue with clarity and decisiveness. If this is the start of a more direct campaign style from the Illinois Senator, there will be gains all around. And, if we may say so, not least with his heretofore fogged-up subject of taxes on capital gains. (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Michael Medved: Ranting Rev's Education Theories Strike At Heart of Obama Campaign - The Ranting Rev is back, trailing malodorous clouds of sulfurous new controversy, imperiling the Obama campaign at its very core. The Obama promise of “a more perfect union” directly contradicts the Jeremiah Wright insistence on unbridgeable racial difference and distinction. Nothing makes this pastor-protégé conflict more obvious or more significant than Wright’s crackpot theories on education and his fiery insistence that the different “brains” of black kids and white kids require totally different educational approaches. (READ MORE)

Mary Katharine Ham: How Obama and McCain Keep Sister Souljah-ing the Wrong People - It was a pickle only John McCain could have gotten himself into. What should have been a mostly uneventful weekend for McCain, two weeks before the increasingly ugly Democratic campaign culminates in a Carolina showdown, turned into a hurricane of bad press when the presumptive Republican nominee asked the state Republican Party not to run an anti-Obama ad targeted at North Carolina’s two Democratic gubernatorial candidates, both of whom endorsed Obama. The ad, now quite familiar to anyone with a TV or radio suggested that Obama’s connection to Wright made him “too extreme” for North Carolina, and made Richard Moore and Bev Perdue too extreme by extension. (READ MORE)

Walter E. Williams: Cigarette Smuggling - While it's politically popular to impose confiscatory taxes on America's 40 million tobacco smokers, there are a number of consequences one might consider, but let's start out with a quiz. If a carton of cigarettes sells for $160 in New York City, and $35 in North Carolina, what do you predict will happen? If you answered tons of cigarettes will be going up I-95 from North Carolina to New York City, go to the head of the class. Smuggling cigarettes is illegal; so the next quiz question is: Who is most likely to engage in cigarette smuggling? It's a mixed answer, but for the most part, organized smugglers will be people with a high disregard for the law. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has found that Russian, Armenian, Ukrainian, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Middle Eastern (mainly Pakistani, Lebanese, and Syrian) organized crime groups are highly involved in the trafficking of contraband and counterfeit cigarettes. (READ MORE)

John Stossel: The Conceit of the Regulators - Unless the government watches closely, the airlines will kill you. That seems to be what many reporters and politicians believe. "The result of inspection failures and enforcement failure [by the Federal Aviation Administration] has meant that aircraft have flown unsafe, un-airworthy and at risk of lives," says Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "The FAA has clearly displayed a dangerous and cavalier lack of regard for tough safety enforcement," says Sen. Hillary Clinton. (READ MORE)

Michelle Malkin: Obama's Un-Disownable Preacher of Hate - Barack Obama looked pale and wan at what he called his "big press conference" about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Tuesday afternoon. Numb. Chastened. Defeated. Extolled for his eloquence, Obama stuttered and stammered his way through the question-and-answer session. It appeared he was having an out-of-body experience. Who knew that the greatest threat to his presidential campaign would come from the preacher who married him, baptized him and prayed with him? Barack Obama should have known. That's who. Take that judgment and shove it on a pretty campaign poster. (READ MORE)

Austin Bay: Darfur: Facing the Peacekeeping Conundrum - So far, theatrical protests of the Beijing Olympics by Hollywood stars and sign-waving demonstrators have failed to stop the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region or restore Tibetan independence. The sensationalist media love the fracas, since harassing Olympic torchbearers creates great video. "Publicity politics" leveraging shame and moral outrage and calling for action can produce responsive change in those rare places where freedom is constitutionally or institutionally enshrined -- in other words, in democratic nations that practice open, responsive politics. (READ MORE)

Terence Jeffrey: The Pastor Parses Obama - Given his 20 years of pastoring to Barack Obama, you would have to assume that if any of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's declarations have a particular claim to credibility it would be his repeated assertion over the past week that Obama does not always say what he means. "He's a politician," Wright explained to Bill Moyers on PBS. "And he says what he has to say as a politician. He does what politicians do." "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls, Huffington, whoever's doing the polls," Wright said of Obama at the National Press Club. "He does what politicians do." (READ MORE)

John McCaslin: Disinvited Witness - What happened to Robert F. Turner last week unfortunately happens all too often on Capitol Hill, although one might argue the University of Virginia professor — more than most witnesses called to testify before Congress — was inconvenienced tremendously by his experience. We'll allow Mr. Turner to speak for himself, but for background he was invited by Caleb Rossiter of the House Foreign Affairs' subcommittee on international organizations, human rights and oversight to testify at a hearing Thursday on war powers in the 21st century. Indeed, his name remained on the witness list that was still posted yesterday by the committee. (READ MORE)

Bret Stephens: We're Not Losing Afghanistan - Elaborate security preparations on the eve of Afghanistan's Independence Day nearly kept me from making my flight out of Kabul on Saturday. But they did little to stop insurgents from nearly assassinating President Hamid Karzai, Sadat-like, from his review stand on a military parade ground the very next day. Are we "losing Afghanistan," as people like John Kerry seem to think? Sunday's attack illustrates a point, made to me by Brig. Gen. Mark Milley of the 101st Airborne Division, that "security is perception" – meaning that not only must the streets be safe, but people must believe them to be so. By that token, a spike in suicide bombings and kidnappings suggests Afghanistan is considerably less secure today than it was three or four years ago. (READ MORE)

Skippy's List: This again? - Military Honor and Decency Act Long term readers may remember this post. And so once again we have a group of people that think they know more than the rest of us should. If you have any respect for our soldiers, or value freedom in any way, you should contact your Representative and tell them that you don’t support this. I first saw this on my regular Internet news sites and at first I thought, “Eh, I’ve written about this before.” But then one of my readers, Patrick, sent me this site. As I read Mrs. Proctor’s arguments and her defense of them, I found myself getting angry. And then I realized that an unfortunate reality is that silence equals consent. (READ MORE)

A Newt One: War News: President Bush FINALLY Tells It Like It Is - As I stated in an earlier post, located here, this will be my situational awareness commentary on the Press Conference held on 4/29/2008 in the Rose Garden at the White House. The video of the event is here and the text is printed here. Also, if you just want the audio, click this. There are quite a few You Tubes floating around with specific segments for pet peeves or similar rant inspiring posts. I have downloaded the audio and will have specific segments ready for the BTR shows and I played the entire event tonight. Quite a bit was discussed in the Press Conference but a particular point was near and dear. I have that segment isolated here. This is the segment where "Martha" was trounced and then her "associate" tried to take up Martha's cause and GWB FINALLY came out with the gloves off. (READ MORE)

Cassandra: And To Keep Our Honor Clean - I haven't felt much like writing lately. There hasn't been much to say about the news that doesn't seem intuitively obvious, even to those who can only afford half the proverbial clue. Jeremiah Wright is still an egotistical, bigoted blowhard. Andrew Sullivan is still firmly in the running for Most Delusional Person on the Face of the Earth. Britney Spears seems grimly determined to plumb the depths of serial emotional train-wreckery as performance art. If you give kids an inch, (duh) they'll still take a mile (though at this point, some intrepid soul will pop up like Whack a Mole and argue the sheer impossibility of imposing any limits on human behavior without careening down the Otter Slide to Hell and an eventual police state). (READ MORE)

Eugene Volokh: Expressive Association, Student Groups Open Only to Members of One Religion, and Government Subsidies - A school or university bans discrimination (based on race, religion, sex, and the like) by all student groups that want access to school property and school funds. The ban applies even when it seems contrary to the group's ideological mission -- for instance, when a Christian student group is told that it can't limit membership to Christians (or a Muslim one to Muslims or an atheist one to atheists). Do such bans violate the school or university student groups' rights of expressive association, see Boy Scouts v. Dale, or high school student groups' rights under the federal Equal Access Act? Or are they permissible school decisions about whom to give government benefits (such as access to classrooms or funds)? (READ MORE)

Dr. iRack: Good Cop, Bad Cop - Dr. iRack has admired Tina Susman's terrific reporting on Iraq for the Los Angeles Times for a while. (Indeed, throughout the war, the LAT has often produced much better reporting than any other paper.) Dr. iRack highly recommends you check out this interesting Susman piece on the Iraqi government's new tone regarding lethal Iranian aid to Shia militants in Iraq. For a long time, the Government of Iraq (GoI) has been reluctant to call out the Iranians publically, but they are now doing so. “Iraq's national security advisor, Mowaffak Rubaie, and Ministry of Defense spokesman Mohammed Askari said caches found in Basra included Iranian-made arms with markings showing they were manufactured in 2008. Rubaie said the government was preparing to present the evidence to the Iranians soon, but he did not say when.” (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: Kudos To Senator Clinton - I've been giving the matter some thought, and I think it's time to give the devil her due. Of all the candidates running for president, and the current president and powers that be in Congress, only Hillary Clinton has actually done something about rising gas prices. And we should all be grateful for her efforts. This is kind of complicated to explain, so bear with me. If there is one thing that is indisputable, it is that the Clintons are great at making money. Back in Arkansas, Hillary managed to parlay $1,000 into $100,000 in her first and only venture into the cattle futures market. Later, when Bill was governor, she held a partnership at Arkansas' most powerful law firm, and won a spot on the Wal-Mart Board Of Directors, both of which paid quite handsomely. (READ MORE)

Shrinkwrapped: Information War Strategy and Tactics - Last week, my post On Europe and Genocide provoked a passionate discussion in the comments. Many people take the position that Islam is irreconcilably opposed to freedom and democracy and that the struggle between Islam and thew West can only devolve into open warfare. If such an outcome is inevitable, all the horrors that ensue must be considered and all options must be placed on the table. I think this view is incorrect both strategically and tactically. There is no question that the radical Islamists, whether the Sunni of al Qaeda or the Shia of Iran, cannot stand against American military might. We have no equals when it comes to the kinetic warfare that has defined the fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. (READ MORE)

McQ: Why did Obama choose Trinity? - Obama has again repudiated the words of Jeremiah Wright, this time in much stronger words that before. But, as usual, the questions about the previous extent of the relationship remain. Noam Scheiber at TNR's "The Stump" begins to peck at one of the questions, on a deeper look at the Wright/Obama relationship, which needs to be answered and to this point hasn't. "Why'd Obama Join Trinity in the First Place?" We know, having read some accounts that part of it had to do with gaining street cred with his work as a community organizer among churches. (READ MORE)

Jon Henke: Factcheck.org: the DNC is lying, they know it, but they don’t care - After years of progressives, Democrats and particularly the Democratic Party claiming to be outraged by deceptive ads and rhetoric from Republicans, the Democratic Party demonstrates that they are not, and never really were, above that sort of thing. Factcheck.org is kind enough not to explicitly call the DNC brazen liars, but that's what it amounts to. “The Democratic National Committee has produced two TV ads against McCain, hoping to soften him up while the party figures out who its own presidential nominee will be. One ad shows selected portions of McCain's comments that a 100-year U.S. presence in Iraq would be ‘fine with me.’ The ad uses dramatic images of war and violence, and omits any mention that McCain was speaking of a peaceful presence like that in Japan or Korea.” (READ MORE)

Neptunus Lex: Ritual Denunciations - What we know: Barack Obama is willing to throw the Reverend Jeremiah Wright under the bus after the latter proved to be not only a political liability, but a persistent distractor whose inconvenient utterances threaten to derail the Change Train. What we don’t know: Whether, having won the hearts of the ink-stained wretches in the MSM with his like, totally epochal speech on race last month - but having failed to win the hearts of bitter, God-’n-gun clinging Pennsylvania trailer trash haters earlier this month - the Chicago politician engineered the latest Wright-down in order to create his own “Sistah Souljah” moment. (READ MORE)

Mountain Runner: Strengthening State by Making It More like Defense - AmericanDiplomacy.org has an interesting article by three students at the Joint Forces Staff College, LTC Shannon Caudill, USAF, MAJ Andrew Leonard, USA, and SgtMaj Richard Thresher (what, nobody from the Navy or a Coastie?), titled Interagency Leadership: The Case for Strengthening the Department of State. In short, they argue State's geographic focus should drop its early-20th (arguably late-19th) Century European view of the world and adopt the map of the Defense Department's Combatant Commands. The authors argue State "should be the pre-eminent diplomatic and interagency leader abroad, but it must be reorganized to become more relevant, robust, and effective." (READ MORE)

Jules Crittenden: Mr. and Mrs. Grievance - Steyn on the peculiar Michelle Obama, cuts through a lot of American political backyards. Brilliant as usual. Read the whole thing. It may say more about today’s big news than any of the analysis of Barack Obama’s latest utterance. In case anyone had any question, by the way, Obama will in fact say anything and throw anyone under the bus to get elected. Grandma. Spiritual counselor. Michelle would be a little tougher. She may have to go in the attic. Obama wants us to think Wright has changed, this racist nutcase is not the man in whose pews he spent the last 20 years, selectively heeding. It’s pretty much the only way Obama can wedge Wright under the wheels. (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Why do the DNC and Howard Dean continue to lie? - Making a misstatement of fact once can rightly be called a mistake. Making a series of misstatements over and over again and rolling them into national ads can only be considered lies, and perhaps a Big Lie propaganda strategy at that. The DNC and its chair, Howard Dean, apparently have no other choice to lie about John McCain despite numerous corrections in the media and elsewhere. Fact Check looks at the lies and the bad math in its assessment of the latest ads from the Democrats. First, Fact Check scolds the DNC for continuing to use its “100 years of war” lie against McCain, even though Fact Check already debunked that claim two months ago: (READ MORE)

Crazy Politico: It Takes 10 Years - One of the reasons we keep hearing about not drilling for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, from just about everyone opposed, is that it will take 10 years to actually get oil to the market. Oddly, had we started drilling there in 1991, when George H.W. Bush proposed it, and Democrats filibustered the idea to death, or 1995, when Bill Clinton vetoed the budget because of an ANWR provision, we'd be seeing that oil on the market today. In fact, it would have been there for the last 3-6 years. Robert J. Samuelson of the Washington Post points out the fantasy world of the folks opposed to exploration in the US in a column today, and says "Start Drilling". He not only suggests ANWR, but the coastal shelf and deep Gulf of Mexico areas. (READ MORE)

Don Surber: No recession - Growth at 0.5% followed by 0.6% growth is not much but it is still growth. This cannot please the Democratic party, but the USA economy is still not in a recession despite a war, $4 gasoline and the refusal of Congress and the president to balance the federal budge. AP quoted Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Bank of America’s Investment Strategies Group: “The economy is weak but not collapsing. A recession can’t be ruled out, although the stars are not lined up at this point to definitively say one way or the other.” (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: When the saints go marching in - Baldilocks argues that contstructing a religion on racist lines somehow makes the resulting faith less than a religion amd more like politics. And when you're dealing with Eternity, dates like 2008 seem awfully irrelevant. (Hat tip Gerard Vanderleun) “That’s his choice, but not mine and not that of those who focus on the Redemption offered by Christ instead of getting upon the Cross themselves. To quote myself, there is no ‘black church.’ There is only the Church.” The issue Baldilocks raises is related to one of the more interesting concepts in theology: that of the "Communion of Saints". (READ MORE)

This Ain't Hell: AP rushes out grim milestone - The AP could barely contain their glee as the rushed out the report that “US troop deaths hit 7-month high in Iraq“; “The killings of three U.S. soldiers in separate attacks in Baghdad pushed the American death toll for April up to 47, making it the deadliest month since September. One soldier died when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. The other died of wounds sustained when he was attacked by small-arms fire, the military said Wednesday. Both incidents occurred Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad. A third soldier died in a roadside bombing Tuesday night in the east of the capital, the military said.” Of course they might have a smidgen of credibility if they’d reported that there were record lows last year, if they’d reported the overall success of the troops in the last six months. (READ MORE)

Cardinalpark: I'm Just Curious - If the media learned that a Presidential candidate was a member of an actively racist, bigotted church; that said candidate's spiritual mentor - the man who performed the candidate's marital ceremony, who baptized his children, who authored the sermon which named that candidate's own book -- repeatedly articulated and defended bigotted commentary about Jews, and conspiratorial assertions of the evil of America; that said candidate was sufficiently aware of the nature of his spiritual mentor that he, in a premeditated fashion, elected not to have said mentor appear publicly with him upon the announcement of his presidential candidacy, instead praying with him in private immediately prior to the public event in a separate, off camera location; wouldn't you suppose that said candidate's Presidential aspirations would have expired? (READ MORE)

Warner Todd Huston: Two Recent Success in WOT You Didn’t Hear About in the Media - The Taliban suffered a big loss in Pakistan/Afghanistan this month and so did al Qaeda in Iraq, but the MSM has been practically silent on these great successes. It only goes to show that the media is so completely sold on the claim that the war is lost that they aren’t interested in doing any real reporting on the war. Not only has Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki headed up a brilliantly successful attack on rebel leader and Iranian backed Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army in Basra, but it seems that Maliki’s hard-line against Sadr has convinced Iraq’s main Sunni block to return to their places in the Iraqi government. (READ MORE)

Dan Riehl: Wright's Saddest Truth Overlooked - Everyone has noted and commented upon some of Reverend Wright's worst, most recent rhetoric. Even Sullivan has seen enough. I may have missed it being dealt with directly, as it should be - but the saddest and perhaps most revealing truth of all for Wright and likely some in the Black community is buried within it. It's the last portion of this phrase. "Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy. He did not put me in chains, he did not put me in slavery, and he didn't make me this color." Think about what that really means. Those aren't the words of a proud Black individual. They are the words of someone who is angry, primarily, ... because they are Black. (READ MORE)

John Hawkins: The Daily Kos Post Of The Day: "Uncle Tom" Obama - Uh-oh, it looks like Barack Obama has offended some of the liberals over at the Daily Kos for finally taking some reluctant, half-hearted shots at the anti-white, anti-American, conspiracy nut he has used as a "sounding board" and a spiritual mentor. Here's Daily Kos diarist Kaos237 playing the "race traitor" card on Obama, “I have been a huge supporter of Barack. He is the guy I've been behind for quite awhile now. Check my older diaries if you wonder about that. And while I've been steeling myself for a Barack loss in November, because I think the Repug machine is too good for him to beat, I had resigned myself to still working hard for him and for the Progressive cause! But today something changed for me...” (READ MORE)

Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.

Wednesday Hero: L/Cpl Matt Croucher

Lance Corporal Matt Croucher24 years old from Birmingham, England 40 Commando Royal Marines

L/Cpl Matt Croucher is not only one of the bravest men alive, he’s also one of the luckiest men alive. On the morning of February 9, 2008 L/Cpl. and his unit were searching a compound near Sangin in Afghanistan that was suspected of being used to make bombs to be used in attacks on British and Afghan troops. Walking in the darkness among a group of four men, Croucher stepped into a tripwire that pulled the pin from a boobytrap grenade. His patrol commander, Corporal Adam Lesley, remembered Croucher shouting “Grenade!”

As others dived for cover, Croucher did something nobody expected. He lay down on the grenade to smother the blast. Lesley got on the ground, another man got behind a wall, but the last member of the patrol was still standing in the open when the grenade went off.

“My reaction was, ‘My God this can’t be real’,” said Lesley. “Croucher had simply lain back and used his day sack to blunt the force of the explosion. You would expect nine out of 10 people to die in that situation.” L/Cpl. Croucher was that 1/10. Not only did he survive, amazingly he only suffered shock from the blast and a bloody nose. He was saved by the special plating inside his Osprey body armor. The backpack he was wearing was thrown more than 30ft by the blast.

“I felt one of the lads giving me a top to toe check. My head was ringing. Blood was streaming from my nose. It took 30 seconds before I realized I was definitely not dead,” said L/Cpl. Croucher.

For his actions that day, L/Cpl. Croucher was in line for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for a British Serviceman, but it has yet to be awarded.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

From the Front: 04/29/2008

News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.

In their own words:
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: In Horseshoes and Hand Grenades - When you exist in the circumstantial vacuum of a war zone, many words and phrases shed their old world catches and connotations. This is often a result of the rebirth-via-military acronym-process, rising like a brevity phoenix from the ashes of English language clichés. Relativity and conditional overload numb the deployed soldier’s reality into a mantra of no apologies; survival is unabashedly priority numero uno for anyone not taking prolonged hits from Uncle Sam’s patriot bong. Not that Uncle Sam smokes weed. He’s drug-tested every month. Been that way ever since the Sixties. One of those infinitely delicate and ever-malleable terms in combat is “close call.” For a phrase that is sure to be used in every Iraq War yarn spun in bars across America, it certainly leaves a lot to be desired in terms of exactitude. (READ MORE)

Yellowhammering Afghanistan: The replacements - Boy, are we glad to see these guys! Our replacements began filtering into FOB Vulcan about 10 days ago. We've spent the past week doing our relief in place and transfer of authority (RIP-TOA) with the new guys. We're doing our best to introduce them to Ghazni and all the hazards and rewards of this job. Unfortunately, they are experiencing a good bit of the former (I'll tell you more about that tomorrow). I hope they will come to know much more of the latter. The good thing is they are getting many more trainers/mentors and security force guys than we had, which means they should be able to do even more with the Afghan National Police. (READ MORE)

LT Nixon: Iraq News (29 April) - The Good: Grug Bruno of the CFR has an extensive write up about the Sahwa movement that's worth your time. Ambassador Khalilzad drops the rhetoric on Iran and Syria about their role in Iraq. There's been an unprecedented number of airstrikes from drones/UAVs due to the recent uprising of Shi'ite militias. I knew the Air Force was good for something besides making me envious with their plush bases! The Bad: Four of our troops were killed by indirect fire yesterday in Baghdad. The Provincial Reconstruction Teams, crucial to helping Iraqis run their country, are understaffed because the State Department doesn't have the people. Apparently, there's more military musicians that Staties. (READ MORE)

Milblogging: In Case You Missed It: Watch Bad Voodoo's War Online - In case you missed Bad Voodoo's War (the personal story of my Platoon), you can watch it online. If you did watch the show and want to share your thoughts, please feel free to share in the Comments section below. Oh, and yes folks, that's me at the top of the PBS website raising one eyebrow like James Bond. I mean, you can't look like me and not raise one eyebrow during photographs. It's unnatural. Shoot, it was hard enough to resist ripping off my shirt and flexing my pecs and back for the camera. (READ MORE)

Badger 6: Master Sergeant Brendan O'Connor - Someone You Should Know - None of our heroes who have been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Global War on Terrorism have been alive for the award. It seems the standard is so high one must give their life demonstrating courage. Fortunately no such absolute standard has been created for our Nation's second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross. Tomorrow, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Master Sergeant Brendan O'Connor, of the 7th Special Forces Group will receive Distinguished Service Cross. (READ MORE)

ToySoldier: Exhaustion - Is the word I'm using to describe myself, probably from now until I'm in the states. See the funny thing is, I wrote "Return of a Season" around the beginning of April, things were calm, things were going smoothly. Now, we have 2 suicide vests, and 1 vbied (vehicle borne IED) and a possible attempt by AQI to "resurge" into the area. Bastards. Don't they know I'm going home!? Can't they just let it be? We won, you lost. Get the hell over it. Ah, only in a perfect world. So, patrols are ramped up I get online maybe once a week now. Thank you for all the positive feedback, I didn't really expect such a large inbox of comments when I logged on tonight. (READ MORE)

IN-iraq: The only way out is through- the local Iraqi economy - Balad, Iraq- LSA Anaconda is the largest supply hub in Iraq, and therefore has a tremendous potential to benefit the local economy outside its guarded perimeter, but because of security concerns- third country nationals are mostly employed instead of Iraqis, and because of a lack of an industrialized economy, basic services and supplies are imported rather than contracted locally. But with better security in Salah al Din Province, the potential for the local economy may be improving. (READ MORE)

Toby Nunn: Fear - Fear, It comes in many forms, when I was a kid I was relatively fearless until I got hurt. I remember climbing trees and hiding on the roof and not being afraid of heights till I fell, nor was I scared of being hurt by an insect till I was stung. I was speaking to my friend Elizabeth’s class on the phone earlier and answering some more of the questions that I shared with you all a few days ago and was asked if I was scared to come back here on this tour. I remember sitting on my cot at the mobilization site getting ready to leave looking at my packed bags and feeling the fear rising from my gut. The first time, I ran to the plane to get on and off and couldn’t wait to get me some. This time I sauntered up, looking back at the faces I would have to stand before if anything went south and tried to keep that fear in my gut where it belongs. I listen to my gut all the time I just like my head clear when I listen that’s all. (READ MORE)

Navy Gal: sand, sand, everywhere sand! - Ok, I'm not trying to be a hater of the sand, BUT....it's getting ridiculous with all the freaking sand storms lately. AND with the sand comes more mortar attacks. This is nuts! I can feel my lungs filling up with sand. My eyelashes are coated in sand. My nose is full of sand. Did I mention I hate the sand?! On another note....Toby Keith was on base lastnight for a USO concert and I was fortunate enough to score a front row pass! Woohoo....touched Toby's hand it was great! Now when I hear American Soldier or Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue I can be like.."Dude, I saw him sing that while I was in Iraq!" (READ MORE)


Back but still writing:
That Krazy Korean: Welcome Back - I just got word that the last of the Captain Mafia has returned from theater. After a similarly grueling long travel trip, Kevin, Brendan and Tom are now safely in the US and will go through the same 4 day out-processing ordeal that the rest of us went through. This may sound slightly silly, but I'm a lot more relaxed knowing that they are safe. I missed them. When the regular Army deploys, the unit tends to hold that vigilant watch until everyone is home safe. Because this deployment was more like a smattering of individuals, the strength of the team cohesion resembled watery paste rather than the typical super glue found normally in the Army. (READ MORE)


Heading out:
The War on Big Tobacco: A Beautiful Return - “Welcome home. You deserve a cigar.” I quizzed her on how long ago she had just eaten and what she had for dinner. I tried to pair her dinner (pizza) with something that would complement the meal, so I selected a La Gloria Cubana Wavel from my cigar case. At the time, I was smoking a Gusta Rey Torpedo. I taught her how to puff on the cigar and enjoy the taste of the smoke. Then we began to talk about deployment. She was a chaplain’s assistant, but had only done the job once. Instead, she worked in supply counting field rations and making sure that the TCNs (Third Country Nationals) were doing their job driving water trucks. She old me of the extreme boredom and some of the stupid things she did for entertainment. She told me of the buddy who died on the road in Kuwait, coming back from a convoy. He died not from a roadside bomb, but after being hit by a Kuwaiti who was going way too fast. She let everything out. (READ MORE)


On the Home Front:
Patti Treverton: 100 days, and appreciating the support - It’s been 100 days since my husband has left on this deployment. So far we’ve been lucky, no “major” issues to deal with, only car and furnace problems that we solved before telling him! We’re old hands at this and have learned that you don’t tell your soldier who is 10,000 miles away about the little things that he can only worry about but can’t fix, until you have fixed them yourself! You see since the events of Sept 11. 2001, my husband, a Reservist, and dozens of others like him have now served both at home and overseas on multiple missions. My husband has served over 1000 days (for those like my husband who counts days away from his children), including a 14-month tour in Iraq. (READ MORE)


News from the Front:
Iraq:
US troops kill 28 Mahdi fighters during Sadr City ambush - Heavy fighting broke out between Coalition and Mahdi Army forces in Sadr City as US troops killed 28 Mahdi Army fighters after being ambushed during a patrol. Seven more Mahdi Army fighters were killed during strikes yesterday. The 28 Mahdi Army fighters were killed during a four-hour battle in southern Sadr City after a US soldier was wounded by gunfire and US forces began to evacuate the soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad said. (READ MORE)

Female suicide bomber attacks SOI in Diyala - DIYALA, Iraq – A female suicide bomber attacked a Sons of Iraq Headquarters, killing one and wounding four others in the town of Mukisha, approximately 12 miles southwest of Muqdadiyah in Diyala province, April 29. An Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force moved the wounded to a Coalition force medical facility for treatment. (READ MORE)

Local citizens fend off AQI attack - TIKRIT, Iraq – Defensive actions by local citizens of the Diyala Province against al Qaeda in Iraq resulted in the death of 12 insurgents April 28. Freedom of movement once exercised in the Bani Zaid Tribal region, south of Kanan, by AQI was stifled when local leaders and citizens, along with the village’s Sons of Iraq members fought back against an enemy attack. (READ MORE)

Iraqi soldiers turn in weapons cache - CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Soldiers from 4th Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division retrieved a cache in the vicinity of Patrol Base Lion’s Den, approximately seven kilometers southwest of Baghdad, April 27. Information from a detainee led the Soldiers to the cache that was buried by a canal. The cache consisted of 80 machine gun rounds, four 69 mm mortar rounds, one 120 mm mortar round, and two bags of homemade explosives. (READ MORE)

Coalition forces target AQI: three terrorists killed, 12 detained - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 12 suspected terrorists while targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq network in the northern half of the country Tuesday. Coalition forces targeted an AQI foreign terrorist facilitator at a suspected terrorist safe-house 60 miles north of Baghdad. Coalition forces called for the target building’s occupants to come out peacefully, but several men refused to comply, including three men displaying weapons, one of whom was wearing a military-style assault vest. (READ MORE)

Coalition forces kill 10 terrorists, detain five suspects (Khalaf Al Mahd) (Abu Ghurayb) - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed 10 terrorists and detained five terrorist suspects during four operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq networks Monday near Baghdad. Targeting a foreign terrorist with direct ties to suicide operations, intelligence led a Coalition forces to engage two vehicles and kill 10 terrorists near Khalaf Al Mahd. Coalition forces destroyed the vehicles carrying four heavy machine guns, eight assault rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition. (READ MORE)

Iraqi Security Forces Clear Hyyaniyah - BASRA — As part of ongoing operations to secure the Hyyaniyah district in Basra, Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces searched the area of criminals and weapons caches last week. The ISF involved were Soldiers from 1st Division, 14th Division; the 26th Brigade attached to the 1st Division; a Battalion with the National Police from Baghdad; and elements from an Emergency Police Battalion. (READ MORE)

ISF Improve Security in Tarmiyah - CAMP VICTORY — The citizens of Tarmiyah have seen a substantial reduction in violence over the past four months, which can readily be seen throughout the vibrant market places midday as consumers packed the markets to purchase needed goods from vendors. “Things have been very quiet in Tarmiyah over the past four months,” said Staff Sgt. Mikey Fernandez, who is attached to Troop A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. (READ MORE)

Town name to change to Beautiful Spring - Residents of the Hay Jasmen neighborhood in Musayyib, Iraq, will soon walk on improved roads instead of dirt and jagged rocks. The roads are nearly complete; workers are in the finishing stages of constructing gutters on the sides of the streets. In addition to the road refinishings, a waste management project is almost complete. Areas that previously appeared carpeted by trash are now nearly spotless. (READ MORE)

Mahmudiyah radio station ready for first broadcast - Coalition forces provided training April 24 to local citizens employed at the new radio station on the Iraqi Army Compound in Mahmudiyah. The Mahmudiyah IAC received new radio station equipment April 12 to increase communication means in the area, in conjunction with Operation Marne Piledriver. The new station, 106.5 FM, will be used as a conduit to keep the community informed. The inaugural broadcast will air April 27. (READ MORE)

IA visits site in Arab Jabour - An Iraqi Army unit visited Combat Outpost Murray in Arab Jabour April 23 to familiarize themselves before establishing their battalion headquarters there. The 6th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th IA Division will join 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at COP Murray. Col. Thair, the 6/25/6 IA commander, spoke with Coalition leaders about their partnership at the outpost. Companies from the IA battalion will occupy other patrol bases in Arab Jabour as well. (READ MORE)

Just Arrived

Look what just arrived!

Already reading Moment of Truth in Iraq and will start House to House shortly.

Book reviews are also forthcoming....I might have to put my review of Fick's One Bullet Away off to finish and write one for Yon.

Web Reconnaissance for 04/29/2008

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)
Plutonium on the Euphrates -- II - We finally know what Israel bombed in the Syrian desert on September 6 last year, and it isn't pretty. After seven months of silence, the Bush Administration confirmed last week that the target was a nuclear reactor being built with the aid of North Korea. (READ MORE)

Rev. Wright's Return - Anyone raised amid the wisdom of mothers knows well the dictum that "some people just talk too much." Meet the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. At the moment, Rev. Wright is out in public saying whatever happens to be on his mind. It is not a coincidence that at least some of what is on Rev. Wright's mind and tongue may be pushing Barack Obama's presidential candidacy into a ditch. (READ MORE)

Photo Finish - The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states can mandate photo identification at the polls without violating the Constitution. The ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board is a big deal, and not merely because it continues a welcome trend on the Court of deferring to elected bodies. (READ MORE)

From Chief Prosecutor To Critic at Guantanamo - GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 28 -- The Defense Department's former chief prosecutor for terrorism cases appeared Monday at the controversial U.S. detention facility here to argue on behalf of an accused terrorist that the military justice system has been corrupted by politics... (READ MORE)

High Court Upholds Indiana Law On Voter ID - The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states may require voters to present photo identification before casting ballots, opening the way for wider adoption of a measure that Republicans say combats fraud and Democrats say discourages voting among the elderly and the poor. (READ MORE)

For Chinese, a Shift in Mood, From Hospitable to Hostile - BEIJING, April 28 -- At an airport in northeast China, a young security guard recently spotted a foreign airline passenger with shaving cream in his carry-on bag. "No," he said sternly, wagging his finger like a cross schoolteacher. "No, no, no." (READ MORE)

Now Boarding at BWI: Security With Hint of Calm - Soothing blue lights. Light background noise. Brightly dressed employees who have been trained to create a "calmer environment." A hip spa, right? No. This is how top government officials imagine the airport security checkpoint of the future. (READ MORE)

Still More Lamentations From Jeremiah - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, explaining why he had waited so long before breaking his silence about his incendiary sermons, offered a paraphrase from Proverbs yesterday: "It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." (READ MORE)

Karzai was warned of assassination plot - President Hamid Karzai was warned of a weekend assassination plot against him, Afghanistan's intelligence chief said today, while admitting that failings by the security services allowed militants to launch the attack. (READ MORE)

Barbour touts moderate McCain - Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday said that he is too conservative to be John McCain's running mate but that the Arizona senator's maverick reputation will help him in an election in which moderates and independents will be more important than in recent years. (READ MORE)

Truckers take fuel fight to D.C. - Struggling truckers staged a soggy protest on Capitol Hill yesterday to draw attention to the skyrocketing cost of diesel fuel. The truckers blared their horns and held up signs in cab windows protesting high diesel prices saying, "Enough is enough." But they might as well have been protesting the global economics of the declining dollar. (READ MORE)

Female soldiers step up to fill combat roles - Capt. Yolanda Lee, a stoic D.C. native stationed at the D.C. Armory with the National Guard, is not easily given to tears. In fact, this 32-year-old officer had sworn a subordinate to secrecy after she uncharacteristically broke down with emotion after losing "one of my soldiers" during a roadside bombing in Iraq. (READ MORE)



On the Web:
Thomas Sowell: An Old Newness - Many years ago, a great hitter named Paul Waner was nearing the end of his long career. He entered a ballgame with 2,999 hits -- one hit away from the landmark total of 3,000, which so many hitters want to reach, but which relatively few actually do reach. Waner hit a ball that the fielder did not handle cleanly but the official scorer called it a hit, making it Waner's 3,000th. Paul Waner then sent word to the official scorer that he did not want that questionable hit to be the one that put him over the top. The official scorer reversed himself and called it an error. Later Paul Waner got a clean hit for number 3,000. (READ MORE)

Dennis Prager: PBS, Bill Moyers and the Rev. Wright - When Air America, the left-wing talk radio network, began, I predicted that it would not succeed. One of the main reasons I gave was that liberals already had their views expressed in the mainstream news media -- the major networks, PBS and NPR (National Public Radio), and just about every major city newspaper. Therefore, the need liberals have for liberal talk radio is nowhere near the need conservatives have for conservative talk radio. To its credit, The New York Times -- through its public editor -- has acknowledged that the Times is liberal; and anyone intellectually honest understands this is true regarding virtually all of the news media. (READ MORE)

Bill Murchison: The Proxy Presidential Campaign - Politics is crazier even than we sometimes think. Half the time, it seems, instead of addressing issues of great solemnity with the attention they deserve -- foreign foes, energy supplies, government overspending -- we talk endlessly about ... would you believe Jeremiah Wright? What on earth? The Barnum & Bailey of the black church as center ring attraction in the presidential campaign? Not lastingly so, perhaps. These fads pass. And yet over the last few days of April, Barack Obama's pastor went around the country -- from the Bill Moyers show to Dallas to Washington, D.C. -- calling into question the state of American race relations, not to mention the suitability for the presidency of the half-black, half-white candidate offering change we can believe in. (READ MORE)

George Will: The Gift That Keeps on Giving - WASHINGTON -- Because John McCain and other legislators worry that they are easily corrupted, there are legal limits to the monetary contributions that anyone can make to political candidates. There are, however, no limits to the rhetorical contributions that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright can make to McCain's campaign. Because Wright is a gift determined to keep on giving, this question arises: Can persons opposed to Barack Obama's candidacy justly make use of Wright's invariably interesting interventions in the campaign? The answer is: Certainly, because Wright's paranoias tell us something -- exactly what remains to be explored -- about his 20-year parishioner. (READ MORE)

David Limbaugh: The Rev. Wright Just Can't Help Himself - When it comes to the connection between Barack Obama and his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright -- or to John McCain's various positions on whether criticizing Obama for his relationship with Wright is fair game -- my head is spinning. At first, the Obama defenders said Jeremiah Wright doesn't speak for Obama. Not only have Obama's ill-wishers taken Wright's statements out of context but they have unfairly imputed those statements to Obama. Next, we witnessed the beginning of the Jeremiah Wright rehabilitation tour. He appeared on Bill Moyers' show, endeavoring to present himself as a calm, reasonable person whose statements had been twisted against him. (READ MORE)

Patrick J. Buchanan: Will the Right Sit It Out? - If John McCain wins the presidency, his comeback -- after the bankrupt debacle his campaign had become in the summer of 2007 with his backing of the amnesty bill -- will be the stuff of legend. And as nominee, he is entitled to conduct his own campaign and be cut slack by a party whose brand name is now Enron. That said, McCain seems to have decided to win by love-bombing the Big Media and putting miles between himself and the base. Consider his "Forgotten Places" tour of last week. It began in Selma, Ala., where McCain went to Edmund Pettis Bridge to hail John Lewis and the marchers night-sticked and hosed down by the Alabama State Troopers on the Montgomery march for voting rights. (READ MORE)

Chuck Norris: Border Fence Fiasco - This past week, Customs and Border Protection officials reported that two months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff approved a $20 million virtual fence along a 28-mile stretch in Arizona (called Project 28), the fence was scrapped as impractical and ineffective. Is anyone really shocked by this security fence fiasco? Another government solution bites the dust. While border patrols and homeland security have made some headway, our nation's boundaries, ports and airports remain largely open runways for illegal and terrorist transport. For example, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico just sent out his "Newsletter Update" (April 21, 2008) reminding us about another type of illegal crossing: those from the United States to Mexico! (READ MORE)

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison: Undoing America's Ethanol Mistake - The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once said, "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." When Congress passed legislation to greatly expand America's commitment to biofuels, it intended to create energy independence and protect the environment. But the results have been quite different. America remains equally dependent on foreign sources of energy, and new evidence suggests that ethanol is causing great harm to the environment. In recent weeks, the correlation between government biofuel mandates and rapidly rising food prices has become undeniable. (READ MORE)

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Incoherence on Deterrence - In response to questions about the Iranian nuclear threat, Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has recently adopted a dramatic stance. She has taken to talking about how, if she were President, she would “totally obliterate” Iran if it attacks our friends in the region with nuclear weapons. When asked during her most recent debate with Barak Obama in Philadelphia whether an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel would result in an American nuclear attack on Iran, Senator Clinton responded: “Of course I would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack on Israel would incur massive retaliation from the United States.” (READ MORE)

Jim Addison: Newspaper circulation continues to tank - The Audit Bureau of Circulation has released circulation figures on the nation's top twenty newspapers, and the overall news isn't good. ABC is an independent organization which measures paid circulation of participating newspapers and magazines. They are necessary to verify to advertisers that the numbers being quoted are accurate. The Associated Press list of all twenty newspapers' performances over the last year shows the top two publications, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, with very slight gains over the previous year. The rest are slipping. (READ MORE)

McQ: Gas tax rumble an very important indicator - The argument between the presidential candidates over whether to suspend the federal gas tax in a time of high fuel prices provides a window into their thoughts about the role, size and purpose of government. Or said another way, who or what they have the most concern for. John McCain wants to suspend it, at least for the summer, to give consumers, nation wide, a break by lessening the price at the pump, where consumers are most directly impacted. The amount may not be huge, and the impact per family may not be that large, but what it indicates, at least to me, is an understanding that government must serve the people, that government must sacrifice and that it must tighten its belt before it asks citizens to tighten theirs. (READ MORE)

Jon Henke: The Value of the Extended Democratic Primary - Congressional Quarterly says some Republicans believe the drawn-out Democratic primary campaign is going to hurt Democrats in the general election... “When the returns from Pennsylvania's Democratic presidential primary rolled in last week, they cast a ray of hope into, of all places, the doleful offices of the people plotting this year's Republican congressional campaign. [...] Their calculation is that, if the Clinton vs. Obama contest drags on for months more, with each senator working to damage the other in search of an advantage, both will end up bloodied and bruised no matter which one is awarded the nomination.” I think this is a seriously misguided calculation. (READ MORE)

Jules Crittenden: Among the Gun-Toters - Barcepundit channels Brit shock at the tranquility of bloodthirsty, armed-to-the-teeth American society. Not only are they surprised to find how civil, restrained and sober we are in our public conduct compared to old Blighty. I think I’ve already mentioned that a Brit I know who dwells among us colonials says visiting friends also like the way we jingoistically fly American flags all over the place. Unabashed expressions of national pride being rare over there, and the unequivocal statement of whose turf upon which they stand being heartwarming and charming. (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Gas tax follies continue - Truckers rolled into Washington DC to protest the price of a fill-up, while Barack Obama continued to oppose both Hillary Clinton and John McCain on a gas-tax “holiday”. Obama’s opposition to the gas-tax holiday has allowed Hillary to argue that Obama is an out-of-touch elitist who doesn’t understand the needs of the common American. Yet her own plan would merely replace that tax with another, more onerous tax, neither of which addresses the root problem of high gas prices (via Memeorandum): (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Obamacare previewed - Speedy health care: 42% of Canadians in Ontario can now get an MRI in only 3 ½ months. And for 72%, a CT scan can be taken within 2 months. Knee replacements used to take 63 weeks. Now, thanks to fast action by Ontario’s government, the wait is down to 44 weeks (10 months). Well, for 73% of the people. This report by the Ontario government is online now. In its introduction, it stated: (READ MORE)

Allahpundit: Good lord: Hillary requests $2.3 billion in earmarks - That Woodstock museum isn’t going to just pay for itself, pal. “Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has requested nearly $2.3 billion in federal earmarks for 2009, almost three times the largest amount received by a single senator this year…Clinton’s huge earmark requests have some speculating that the former first lady is preparing for a soft landing should she lose the Democratic primary to Obama and refocus her energy on winning a third Senate term…” This would have been a sweet talking point during the general election; too bad she had to go and tank on us in the primary. (READ MORE)

Dr. iRack: The Big O - In 2003-2004, when he was the Division commander for the 4th ID in Iraq, Ray Odierno was widely criticized for for being overly kinetic and not understanding COIN. The now classic critique of Odierno is the one provided in Tom Ricks’ Fiasco, but even before Ricks piled on, Dexter Filkins wrote a brilliant and scathing piece for the NYT Magazine critiquing the culture of “lethality” that Odierno encouraged during the first year of the war. When Petraeus was the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, he reportedly made the Filkins piece required reading for all officers as a case study in how not to conduct COIN. (READ MORE)

Winds of Change: The Emergence of Intolerant Islam - In numerous talks I gave at research centres and universities in Europe and North America, I tried to introduce my audience to what I call “Turkish-Egyptian Islam” which, until the nineteen forties, stood as a unique example of tolerance and flexibility. Muslims have known extremely tolerant societies but always outside the Arabian Peninsula, in countries like Egypt, Syria, Andalusia and the Arab Maghreb. Under the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslims enjoyed more protection than any other minority living anywhere else in the world at the time. Christians of the Levant and Jews in these countries lived in conditions very similar to the ones in which the Muslim subjects of the empire were living. Even when they were persecuted by certain rulers, like Al-Hakem bi Amr Allah, it was part of a general policy that made no distinction between non-Muslims and Muslims. (READ MORE)

Westhawk: Al Kibar show how bad proliferation has become - Last week’s revelation by the U.S. government about the nature of the destroyed nuclear reactor at al-Kibar, Syria showed how bad the nuclear proliferation problem has become. (See this story from the New York Times for the U.S. government’s video presentation. And see this transcript of a briefing delivered by senior U.S. government intelligence officials.) The IAEA expressed outrage that it was cut out of doing its job by the Israeli and U.S. governments. But after the IAEA’s abject failures in Iraq (before 1991), North Korea, and now Iran, even arms control advocates have lost hope in the agency’s relevancy. The nuclear non-proliferation system has collapsed. But what will replace it remains unknown. (READ MORE)

The Tygrrrr Express: Barack Obama, Meet Chris Wallace - Barack Obama seems to be very difficult to dislike. Instead of treating Fox News like enemy combatants, he decided to go on and give a lengthy interview with Chris Wallace. Yes, this is the same Chris Wallace that turned Bill Clinton into a finger waving crybaby. While I have consistently stated that I am voting for John McCain, I have tried to cover debates and appearance as a dispassionate observer. Barack Obama has had some terrible performances as of late, with his worst being in the Pennsylvania debate. It is with this detached focus that I evaluate his performance being interviewed by Chris Wallace. Obama simply shined. There is no way around it. As bad as he has been lately, he was that good in this interview. (READ MORE)

Jay Fraser: Unmarked Border – Dangerous Border? - In the context of border security and the continuing debate over the “wall” (physical or virtual), the following story raises an interesting contrast in the ways in which the U.S. and Mexico protect their national sovereignty. In fact, the dichotomy is striking. Recently, a California based ecologist inadvertently crossed the boundary between Mexico and the U.S. near El Centro California. How did that happen? There is no fence, and only widely spaced cement markers delineating the unmarked border. While there is no question that the mistaken identity of the ecologist and a fugitive drug runner who had been crisscrossing the border to elude capture played a role in the incident, his first person account is nothing if its not frightening, and certainly shows how the Mexican government protects its borders from encroachment. (READ MORE)

TigerHawk: Quieting William Gray - Noted hurricane forecaster William Gray says that Colorado State University cut its support for the publicity of Gray's forecasts because of his famous skepticism about anthropogenic global warming dogma. CSU denies the charge, and says the problem is that the media relations around Gray's forecasts have become so demanding that it does not have the resources to promote them any more. Rank speculation based on watching university bureaucracies muddle through over the years: The truth is somewhere in the middle. Reading between the lines of the story, it looks like it might be a gambit to keep Gray's younger colleague and partner from jumping ship to another university. (READ MORE)

Mark Steyn: MRS GRIEVANCE - Michelle, ma belle: these are words that go together well. She looks fabulous, like a presidential spouse out of some dream movie - glossy hair, triple strand of pearls, vaguely retro suits that subtly remind you she'd be the most glamorous First Lady since Jackie Kennedy. Michelle, "fear", "cynicism", "corporate America", "downright mean": these are words that go together more problematically. Mrs Obama is most famous for declaring, a propos her husband's candidacy, that "for the first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country". Just a throwaway line reflecting no more than the narcissism and self-absorption required to mount a presidential campaign in the 21st century? (READ MORE)

Smooth Stone: First Time: UN Hears from Jewish Refugees of Arab Lands - UN Watch Testifies Before UN Human Rights Council on Forgotten Refugees The history of Palestinian refugees deserves international attention. So does the history of one million Jewish refugees from the Arab-Israel conflict. Yet the United Nations has devoted countless resolutions and debates to only one side of this story, completely ignoring the other. For the first time ever in the UN Human Rights Council, at its recently concluded session, the suffering of Jewish refugees from Arab lands was also placed on the international agenda. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Congress adopted a historic resolution recognizing that all victims of the conflict must be treated equally. (READ MORE)

John Hawkins: A Question For An Enterprising Reporter To Ask Barack Obama - Courtesy of Ace, Jeremiah Wright said the following yesterday, "I do not in any way disagree with James Cone. Jim is a personal friend of mine." Now here's Kathy Shaidle (read her while you still can, before the liberal tolerance Nazis in Canada have her thrown under the jail for disagreeing with them) on what James Cone believes, “If whiteness stands for all that is evil, blackness symbolizes all that is good. ‘Black theology,’ says Cone, ‘refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community … Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy.’” (READ MORE)

Rhymes with Right: Brooklyn Shocker! - Are the authorities in New York City aware that a religious group is unlawfully abducting citizens from public streets and holding them hostage for engaging in legal activity? And would anyone care to guess the “peaceful religion” engaged in this activity? “Don’t snap a photo of the Masjid At-Taqwa in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn unless you want to be hauled away by a group of angry Muslims in Islamic attire to the basement of the facility where a group of twenty ‘security guards’ in karate suits will interrogate you. This might sound preposterous. But it happened on Saturday, April 24, at 3:00 in the afternoon.” (READ MORE)

Scott Johnson: A Thomas Eagleton moment? - In his widely lauded Philadelphia speech, Barack Obama declared of Reverend Jeremiah Wright: "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." It wasn't quiite up to George McGovern's expression of "1,000 percent" support for Thomas Eagleton as his running mate after revelations of his shock therapy, but it left Obama and Wright closely joined. Something about the revelation of Eagleton's shock therapy made his ultimate dumping by McGovern inevitable. Something about Wright's frank racism, among other things, now calls for some further response by Obama. It's too late for Barack Obama to have his own Sister Souljah moment with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. After Wright's performances before the NAACP in Detroit and before the National Press Club in Washington, however, it may be time for Obama's own Thomas Eagleton moment. (READ MORE)

Neptunus Lex: The Jeremiah Code - Dan Brown has made oodles of money twisting the tenets of Christianity (in general) and the Catholic church (in particular) into something nearly unrecognizable the better to cudgel it for being so twisted. That sells a lot of books to folks holding a generalized loathing, dread and ignorance on the topic of godbothering christers (among others), even if it does depend upon some rather creative re-writing of history. I suppose a fellah has to make a living somehow, and it beats selling crack to school kids. Which somehow brings to mind the aptly named Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Barack Obama’s Chicago church, and a man whose serial jeremiads on the real and imagined sins of white and middle class America came so awkwardly to light six weeks ago. (READ MORE)

Neal Boortz: DAMNED EVIL RICH PEOPLE - Don't liberals just love to holler about "tax cuts for the rich?" It doesn't matter what the facts are – people just love to hear that stuff. In a country awash with achievement envy (a/k/a "wealth envy") people just love to hear that those who have accomplished more than they are going to be hammered for daring to excel. Well ... not to burst your bubble, but a report from the National Center for Policy Analysis shows that the tax burden has been increasing on the evil rich faster than their incomes have been going up. Here's a quickie look at the figures since 1986. (READ MORE)

See-dubya: United Nations angry at BBC - Who to root against? One is an anti-semitic, state-subsidized, bloated, corrupt friend of despots and thugs and enemy of the West, and the other… Hmm. No,that won’t work, will it? Let me start again. The United Nations doesn’t like being investigated, and it doesn’t think a free press exposing its shortcomings is helpful for World Peace. Recently the BBC actually stirred itself to look into corruption by U.N. peacekeeping troops in Congo. Apparently they were speculating in local gold, detaining residents unlawfully (just like Gitmo? No, unlawfully) and according to the BBC (but denied by the UN) assisting gunrunners who were arming the rebel militias. Which gives the UN the blue-helmet blues: (READ MORE)

Tom Bowler: Maliki's political fortunes rise - The mainstream press is reluctantly coming around to a new reality on Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's decision to disarm the Shiite militias. A month ago operations against the Mahdi Army were said to be botched, succeeding only in boosting Iran's influence in the region. A supposed Iran-brokered cease fire between the Iraqi security forces and the Mahdi Army was described in press reports as a huge setback for Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. “The Qom discussions may or may not bring an end to the fighting but they almost certainly have undermined Maliki - who made repeated declarations that there would be no negotiations and that he would treat as outlaws those who did not turn in their weapons for cash. The blow to his own credibility was worsened by the fact that members of his own party had helped organize the Iran initiative.” (READ MORE)

Flopping Aces: Iranian General In Iraq Determines Fate of the War? - Yeah, I know, it’s McLatchy (and even worse, it’s Strobel), but given that lump o’ salt that comes with anything regarding Iraq from this source, give this a taste. The ill-informed, historical revisionists such as McLatchy and Strobel have now come to recognize that, “Yes, Iranian forces are actually in Iraq, they are killing Americans, and they are preventing the creation of a stable Iraq; preventing the withdrawal of US forces.” Of course, as usual, Strobel prefers to insert DNC talking points into a “news” article (such as the incorrect claim that the Bush Administration has sought to back a secular govt in Iraq), but the fact remains that we have a decidedly anti-Bush/anti-Iraq War source recognizing (albeit without admitting the recognition) that Iran is now the biggest stumbling block towards peace in Iraq. (READ MORE)

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