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)
Spectators to Genocide - Four years, 200,000 dead and two million displaced people later, the United Nations has finally authorized a peacekeeping contingent for Sudan's Darfur region. Good intentions and eternal hope aside, this latest mission looks ready-made to continue the U.N.'s sorry record on stopping genocide. (READ MORE)
Children's Health Bill Approved By House - The House yesterday approved legislation vastly expanding a federal health insurance program for the children of the working poor, shrugging off a fresh veto threat from President Bush and the fierce opposition of House Republicans. (READ MORE)
Obama Says He Would Take Fight To Pakistan - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued a pointed warning yesterday to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying that as president he would be prepared to order U.S. troops into that country unilaterally if it failed to act on its own against Islamic extremists. (READ MORE)
Democrats Offer Compromise Plan On Surveillance - Congressional Democrats outlined a temporary plan yesterday that would expand the government's authority to conduct electronic surveillance of overseas communications in search of terrorists. (READ MORE)
Interstate Bridge Collapses Into Mississippi River in Minneapolis - An eight-lane highway bridge clogged with rush-hour traffic buckled and collapsed into the Mississippi River in central Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, pitching numerous vehicles into the roiling water below. At least seven people were killed and dozens were injured, authorities said. (READ MORE)
Saudis Seek an Invitation - Saudi Arabia expressed interest yesterday in attending a Middle East peace conference proposed by President Bush, a move that would put its delegates at the same table with their Israeli counterparts for the first time since the founding of the Jewish state. (READ MORE)
Aging Refineries Drive Price at the Pump - Attention American motorists: It is not ExxonMobil or Middle Eastern oil producers who are driving the price of gasoline you pay at the pump. (READ MORE)
Russia on Quest to Claim North Pole Seabed - A Russian expedition aiming to claim vast swaths of the Arctic Ocean seabed reached the North Pole yesterday, and scientists immediately began preparing to send two mini-submarines under the ice to mark the seafloor with a Russian flag. (READ MORE)
Syrians Back U.S. on End to War - Most Syrians favor working with the United States to seek an end to the Iraq war, yet also support financing Iraqi fighters and other Middle East groups Washington considers terrorists, according to a rare poll of Syrians released yesterday. (READ MORE)
Merchants Face Off With Anti-USFK Protesters - Base officials braced for violence that never materialized as hundreds of anti-U.S. Forces Korea protesters descended on Dongducheon Wednesday afternoon but were stopped well short of Camp Casey’s main gate. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Omar: Flight to Nowhere “BAGHDAD--Catching any flight from Baghdad International Airport is an extraordinary experience in and of itself, but when the destination of your flight is Amman, Jordan, it reaches a whole different level. I made this particular trip several times in the last three years, but my last journey was by far the worst. I was used to the mild discrimination the Jordanians have been practicing against Iraqis at the airport in Amman in recent years. Passengers on a flight coming from any airport in Iraq do not exit from an ordinary gate like other passengers. Instead we are taken by bus from the plane parked hundreds of meters from the terminal under the watch of guards armed with automatic guns.” (READ MORE)
Sgt. 1st Class Jack Robison: Turning the Corner in Ramadi “Ar Ramadi, capital city of al Anbar province, has long been known to the people who fight here as the worst place in the world. I remember seeing an old friend in the dining facility in Kuwait before we got here. He asked where we were going in Iraq. When I told him, he cringed and told me he was sorry. He had never been here, but he had heard enough about it during his two tours. Ar Ramadi is different from many other places in Iraq. You get the package deal here.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Daniel Henninger: Barry Bonds and the Egg “Two eternal puzzles: What came first, the chicken or the egg? What came second, Barry Bonds or numbskull celebrities? Much as we'd prefer to ponder the miracles of the egg, life insists that we instead decipher Mr. Bonds, Mr. Vick, Ms. Lohan, Mr. Donaghy's NBA and the drug-addled messieurs of the Tour de France. Wall Street Journal style prefers the prefix ‘Mr.’ for all but famous men of history, an admirable but perhaps quaint bow to an era when the world was not filling so fast with individuals content in disrepute.” (READ MORE)
MaryAnn - Soldier's Angels Germany: What kind of person... “...could believe the world would be a better place (and we would be better off) if we turned our backs on this man and the children with whom he works? ‘It was really honor for me to hear from some one who appreciate what we do for our kids' future in land of freedom and please feel free to write whenever you like. This kind of wonderful words will encouraging me to work harder and do my job with more loyalty. As far as you and every one in the USA know we are fighting the most brutal groups that have ever known by human history…’” (READ MORE)
McQ: Not so bright CAIR attacks free speech “Anyone else been watching this little assault of free speech develop? ‘The Council on American-Islamic Relations is demanding that the Young America’s Foundation cancel a planned speech Thursday by author Robert Spencer. Mr. Spencer, author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam" and founder of Jihad Watch, is scheduled to speak on the topic, "The Truth About CAIR," at 4 p.m. today at YAF’s national student conference at George Washington University.’” (READ MORE)
W. Thomas Smith Jr.: Battle Position Tarawa “WEST KARABILAH (On the Syrian border) — Last night, went out on a combat foot patrol through the town of Karabilah with Alpha Company Raiders of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. We went out in two squads, operating independently until just after midnight when we linked up and moved back into the BP. Throughout the night we stopped and searched a few vehicles, collected intelligence, and gathered some atmospherics (mood of the people, feelings about the U.S. Marine presence, etc.).” (READ MORE)
Dadmanly: Unexpected Reactions “The past couple of days evidenced two rather unusual reactions, or rather, two reactions from unexpected sources. In the first, US Representative Keith Ellison returned from Iraq and made statements that conveyed that the situation there was improving (and better than he expected). In the second, Senator Barack Obama continues his effort to claw his way ahead of Presidential nomination opponent Senator Hillary Clinton, declaring that as President, he would invade Pakistan to go after terrorists.” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Dems split on the war “The Surge is working. The initial success on the field by the American army is splitting the Democratic caucus in the House between those who want to Lose At Any Cost and the Weathervanes Who Follow The Polls. Those polls are bad. Only 3% of Americans approve of the Democratic Congress’s handling of the war. Bush is at 24% in this category.” (READ MORE)
Lawhawk: The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 238 “Mayor Bloomberg is adamant that the 9/11 memorial ceremony will not take place this year at Ground Zero, but at a nearby park. Everyone agrees that construction at the site makes it unfeasible to hold the memorial inside the pit, but family groups oppose it being held where the Mayor proposes.” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Ellison Returns From Iraq “Rep. Keith Ellison returned from Iraq seemingly impressed by progress in Ramadi.’Rep. Keith Ellison made a weekend trip to Iraq, where a pair of sheiks urged Congress' only Muslim lawmaker to help in countering al-Qaeda's vision of Islam. Ellison, D-Minn., said he met in Ramadi in Anbar province with the two sheiks, who oversee several hundred thousand congregants. "They were very upset and concerned that al-Qaeda is misrepresenting Islam," Ellison told reporters on a conference call Monday from Germany.’” (READ MORE)
Blonde Sagacity: Innuendo, Lies and Chicken: Is the Media Bias Illegal? “In the summer of 2003 Kentucky Fried Chicken began an advertising campaign that positioned it’s product as “healthy”. Now to be fair there was some tiny print in the commercials that mentions something about needing to remove the skin to get rid of the carbohydrate soaked breading. With this said, the overall impression they conveyed was that they were in line with contemporary thinking of the time that protein is good and carbs are evil. Now for some reason I’m not sure that the late Dr. Atkins would have written a prescription for two buckets of extra crispy and told the patient to call him in the morning. What I am sure of is that because of this ad campaign KFC was sued for being in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Act.” (READ MORE)
Victor Davis Hanson: Grow Up, Middle East! “Radical Islamists love to scream about the ‘decadent’ West. Everything from our operas to our attitudes about women outrage these loud pious critics.” (READ MORE)
Walid Phares: Why Military Jihad is illegal in Modern Times “One of the strangest, but not unexpected, battles of words and ideologies is over the claims made about the Muslim perception of Jihad and Jihadism and their impact on public speech. Although there are various clashes on this level, it is appropriate here to introduce the essence of this ideological confrontation. In the three Wars of Ideas from 1945 to 2006, the heart of the Western engagement in the conflict was the understanding of two issues: what Jihad was historically and what Jihadism is in modern times. These are two different but related phenomena.” (READ MORE)
Fjordman: The EU and the Globalist Alliance “Here is an interesting comment about Multiculturalism posted at a website in, of all places, Bangladesh: ‘Multiculturalism is an unnatural and unhealthy condition that can only afflict countries in national decline. (…) Greed and corruption will characterise the government coupled with oppressive measures directed against its citizens. Lies and deceit will be the stock and trade of media, politicians, and educational institutions.’ Multiculturalism ‘is used to prevent a national consensus among the electorate. It erodes values, cultures, beliefs, religions, ethnic habits, etc. ensuring a swirling river of discontent upon which the multiculturalists rides. It is a perfect method of ensuring that there can never be accord, unity, or a commonly shared destiny among those ruled.’” (READ MORE)
Matt Towery: One Sheriff Shows America How To Deal With Illegal Immigration “While politicians have hacked and sloughed their way through the issue of illegal immigration, one sheriff in Atlanta has taken matters into his own hands by doing what the law already allows law enforcement to do -- begin deportation proceedings against illegal aliens who are charged with crimes.” (READ MORE)
William Rusher: The Democrats' strategy in Congress “To a casual observer, the antics of both parties in Congress may resemble the monkey house at a zoo, rather than any attempts at systematic (let alone sensible) behavior. But these are rational men and women, and what they're doing is carefully designed to achieve specific goals.” (READ MORE)
Cal Thomas: What If We Win? “Most Democrats seem so invested in defeat in Iraq that they apparently have no ‘Plan B,’ which would be success. Like the character Billy Bigelow in the musical ‘Carousel,’ who is dumbstruck when he realizes he has not thought about the possibility that his pregnant wife might actually deliver a girl, instead of the son he wants, Democrats appear unable to conceive of victory, or at least stability in Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Robert D. Novak: Fred Thompson's Wife “Speaking at his $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser at the J.W. Marriott hotel in downtown Washington Monday night, Fred Thompson began by introducing ‘my campaign manager -- oh, I mean my wife.’ That little joke about Jeri Thompson reveals how the prospective Republican presidential candidate regards the attack on his intelligent, beautiful wife.” (READ MORE)
Cliff May: The Good News is Bad News “It’s tough being a member of Congress. Even if you’re in the majority, as is Rep. Nancy Boyda of Kansas, you never know when your ears may be assaulted by outrageous and offensive ideas.” (READ MORE)
Emmett Tyrrell: This War Is Lost? “James Taranto, the very clever Wall Street Journal writer and editor of OpinionJournal.com, has a thesis regarding our political culture. He believes the liberals are victims of their own cultural hegemony. They say things that are quite inaccurate.” (READ MORE)
Fred Thompson: Judge Southwick should be confirmed “Rather than assail Judge Southwick’s legal competency, Senate Democrats, led primarily by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), are instead attacking Judge Southwick’s character.” (READ MORE)
Ann Coulter: Did I Miss The ‘Hip’ Part? “Democrats don't care about the poor. They don't care about the children. They care about government teachers and other government bureaucrats -- grimy, dowdy women who ‘woo’ at political debates. Or as CNN calls them, the ‘young,’ ‘hip’ crowd.” (READ MORE)
Paul Driessen: Do-Nothing Energy Policies “Unfortunately, legislative bills could more accurately be called anti-energy and even anti-environment. They may reflect gratitude for special interests that get legislators elected, but they hardly serve the interests of consumers or the nation.” (READ MORE)
Baron Bodissey: Protected Victims vs. the Right to Desecrate “Concerning the performance art of young Stanislav Shmulevich at Pace University, Robert Spencer says it the best: ‘For all the examples of the double standard that [Christopher Hitchens], Malkin and others have brought forth — from Piss Christ to Chris Ofili’s Turner-Prize-winning, elephant-dung and pornography-bedecked Virgin Mary and the rest — emphasize the fact that the real agenda of today’s dominant politically correct culture is certainly not tolerance, or even anything-goes moral relativism. Some things most emphatically don’t go, as Stanislav Shmulevich’s two felony charges indicate. As a cultural movement, political correctness and multiculturalism are emphatically anti-Western and anti-Christian. And they are also suicidal.’” (READ MORE)
Knee Deep in the Hooah!: The nights are the hardest... “I hate the late night hours when I have a lot on my mind. It is at that time that Bryan's absence resonates very loudly in my heart and head. My husband is quite a wonderful listener, and his shoulders truly carry my burdens. I am a pretty staunch stoic and do not let my emotions seep out too much -- not the difficult ones anyway.” (READ MORE)
MountainRunner: Targeting Public Opinion is nothing new “Targeting the morale of the civilian population is not new and certainly not something absent from 20th Century warfare as many would have you believe. What is new, is the rise of the non-state actors, but attacking the will to fit. The United States hired privateers to attack the will of the British to support the war against us in the 19th Century at the dawn of the nation-state. While the nation-state brought with it problems of governance because the governing lost at least some autonomy over the governed (in the worst cases they had to at least work harder to oppress their people than before). Long before the nation-state, consider Vlad the Impaler's PSYOP to dissuade trespassing.” (READ MORE)
William Teach: TTLF: Price Of Gas Comes From…..? “This kinda makes sense, but, Liberals will still blame the wrong people ‘(Patrice Hill, Washington Times Business) Attention American motorists: It is not ExxonMobil or Middle Eastern oil producers who are driving the price of gasoline you pay at the pump. It is shortages of gas and other problems at aging refineries in your neighborhoods.’ Don’t forget President Bush and his cabal of neocons, Patrice!” (READ MORE)
John Hinderaker: Business As Usual in Congress “The ‘ethics reform bill’ now making its way through Congress marks the end, for now at least, of any serious effort to reform the earmark process. This is a sad thing for the Republican Party. Through all of modern history, up until the last two or three years, the Republicans were the party of clean government. It was the Democrats who were associated with bribes, corruption, machine politics, and so on. The idea that the current Republican leaders in Congress--I am thinking especially of Mitch McConnell--are willing to throw away this heritage, and join with the Democrats in suppressing any serious effort at reform--is profoundly depressing.” (READ MORE)
The Redhunter: What A Waste “Today's news tells us that in it's infinite wisdom the Bush Administration is going to send millions in aid to the Palestinian authority: ‘The U.S. is beginning work on tens of millions of dollars worth of aid projects aimed at boosting the Palestinian economy and President Mahmoud Abbas at the expense of Hamas. ... The $2.5 million project, commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International Development, had been suspended after the January 2006 victory by the militant movement Hamas in Palestinian elections. The project got the green light after Mr. Abbas dismissed the Hamas government because of its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.’ What a waste of money.” (READ MORE)
Smooth Stone: West Bank Scholars Push for Spiritual Reply to Hamas Extremism “Islam is 1,400 years old and it still hasn't evolved. It will take another 1,400 years to digest this new concept. From West Bank Scholars Push for Spiritual Reply to Hamas Extremism: ‘As Fatah struggles to contain the spread of Hamas in the West Bank, some Palestinians are pushing for an Islamic critique to compete with the militant brand of religion practiced by the new rulers of Gaza.’” (READ MORE)
The Torch: Will we edit out the last scene? “A Canadian serving with the KPRT recently sent back some photos from halfway around the world, and an interesting story along with them: ‘The recent rains and flooding took a toll on a by-pass road to the East of Kandahar City and caused severe damage. The dyke that protects the road failed and allowed fast flowing water to erode the road itself and many places along the side of the road as well. In total, a 15 metre gap was made when the water washed away a culvert and the road on top of it, and 300-400 metres of the road and its shoulders were also damaged.’” (READ MORE)
The Tygrrr Express: General Arianna Huffington–The leader of the irrelevant “Arianna Huffington has decided that General David Petraeus is not up to snuff. More importantly, she feels he is ‘overrated.’ While criticism of the General is certainly a legitimate expression of democracy, before I read any column I look at the source. I have already sang the praises of David Petraeus, so in this case I would like to focus on Ms. Huffington, and her qualifications to evaluate this sterling military leader.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: Fear, Loathing “Pelosi, eager to show progress before departing on monthlong vacay with U.S. troops in the field, plans another surrender vote today (scroll to bottom). Or does she? There’s been some waffling. Indecision, panic, not exemplary leadership qualities but perhaps to be excused in desperate times. Or not. Angry mandate bestower:” (READ MORE)
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