A Consensus On Media Bias

The most recent Harvard study on media bias found that the mainstream media favors the Democratic party, while at the same time are more likely to report the Republican party in a negative fashion. Most stunning was how bias newspapers are in covering the major political parties, which probably has contributed to the steady decline of readers over the past decade. According to the study newspapers cover the Democratic party in a positive fashion 58.8 percent of the time, compared to 26.4 percent for the Republicans.

It is also interesting how NPR's "Morning Edition," consists of biases toward one political party. Since it depends on state and federal funds to stay on air, one would think it would do a better job of hiding their favoritism toward the Democratic Party. Think again, when covering Democrats NPR stories are negative only 5 percent of the time. When covering Republicans, however, the stories are negative 20 percent of the time, or 4 times more than stories about Democrats.

Bush Tells Democrats the Reality of the War on Terror

Today our Commander in Chief told the Dems how it is in regard to our current state in the war on terror.

Unfortunately, on too many issues, some in Congress are behaving as if America is not at war. This is no time for Congress to weaken the Department of Justice by denying it a strong and effective leader. ... It's no time for Congress to weaken our ability to intercept information from terrorists about potential attacks on the United States of America. And this is no time for Congress to hold back vital funding for our troops as they fight al-Qaida terrorists and radicals in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Hillary Finally Receives a Little Heat

Hillary's fallout from last Tuesday's debate stemmed from two things: the refusal of the mainstream media to pay attention to the controversies surrounding her, and her Democrat opponents' fear of engaging her on issues. Recently, her opponents have realized that the media do not plan to change their course in how they cover Hillary, so to have any chance on narrowing the large gap she enjoys in the polls they would have to be more aggressive. This is what led to the feisty exchanges in Tuesdays debate, not the Democratic moderators questions, which is what the Ms. Clinton's camp would want you to believe. In a conference call, designed to control the fallout, a Ms. Clinton supporter even stated that moderator Tim Russert "should be shot."

Ms. Clinton probably still expects the media to not cover her contradictions and probably violations of campaign finance laws, but Democratic opponents have now shown their willingness to point of her contradictions, and if she makes it to the general elections the Republican candidate will have no problem pointing out both.

Newsbusted week in review

Jody Miller of Newsbusted.org does a great week in review.

Giuliani vs Romney

Hugh Hewitt blogs about New Hampshire Senator Judd Greg's recent endorsement of Mitt Romney. Saying "The obviousness of a two-candidate race within the GOP just go even clearer"
Its looking like pretty soon were going to have to decide whats more important: Which of the two are more conservative? Or, Which can beat Hillary in the general election? What's more important?

X-Files part 1

This story recently made the main newswire out of Kecksburg, PA.
A Judge has ordered NASA to provide more relevant documents pursuant to a Freedom of Information suit filed by journalist Leslie Kean along with other witness's of a UFO crash in 1965. A motion of dismissal was denied by judge Emmet Sullivan, who agreed NASA should look again for documents regarding its involvement.
Story below

xomba.com

n 1965, near the town of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, an object landed in the woods. The scene caused havoc as nearby residents swarmed to the scene, tying up traffic in the area for hours. Onlookers were kept at a distance by the military.

Later; the Air Force described the object as a meteor. An Air Force memo stated that nothing could be found at the site. The official Air Force and NASA explanation didn't sit well with witnesses who stated they saw a flat bed truck leave the area with an acorn shaped object on board. It was described as being the size of a volkswagon bus.

UFO hunters refused to let the matter die and sought a court order for documents NASA has relating to the incident. The agency released stacks of documents, but journalist Leslie Kean says the documents were not a true response to the court order. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed and refused a NASA attempt to have the case thrown out of court.

Since; NASA has agreed to perform a more exhaustive search for documents relating to the UFO incident. Kean said she did not pursue the military because NASA did release some relevant documents.


"This is about the public's right to know," Kean said. "We would be doing this lawsuit regardless of whether UFO groups were interested in it or not. It's a freedom of information issue."

The agency has turned over several stacks of documents which Kean says are not responsive to the request, an argument that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed with.

Code Pink

More Code Pink activists getting arrested, how come they never get the tazer?

Leslie Southwick Confirmed

Today, Leslie Southwick's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit was confirmed. By a vote of 59 to 38 Southwick got the well deserved nod, even though the nomination process had been plagued by unwarranted attacks by left-wing groups. Congratulations to Leslie Southwick.

Introducing Nobel Prize for Literature Winner Doris Lessing

Let me introduce everyone to this year's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature Doris Lessing. Here's some recent comments she made regarding 9/11:

"Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think. They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be."

On Tony Blair: "I always hated Tony Blair, from the beginning." "Many of us hated Tony Blair, I think he has been a disaster for Britain and we have suffered him for many years. I said it when he was elected: This man is a little showman who is going to cause us problems and he did."

On President George W. Bush: "As for Bush, he's a world calamity." "Everyone is tired of this man. Either he is stupid or he is very clever, although you have to remember he is a member of a social class which has profited from wars."

Only the Nobel Committee could hand out an award to such a cruel, sad individual.

John and Adam at the 4th Annual Area 61 Ufo convention

A Bold Investigation Into The Happenings Of Area 61 -Special Report-



The 4th Annual UFO convention was yet another great success.
Take a look at todays schedule and you'll see
UFOs were not the only topic of discussion,also on the agenda were Bigfoots, ghosts and lake monsters. For our interests, the purpose was to primarily learn more about the UFO phenomenon.
To start the evening, event organizers, Jim and Allen Richardson, the Gonzo Scientists, gave one of the most thought provoking, objective presentations on the subject.

Jim Richardson started the event covering a broad range of topics that related to the phenomenon, including: the psychology, origins, and historical accounts of the UFO experience.
His lecture came to some interesting conclusions that pointed to some of the flawed assumptions people make about UFOs. For example: Why do people assume that UFOs originate from another planet?
Historical accounts of the UFO phenomenon seem to date back to just about most of recorded history, Jim argues because of this, a 'simpler' common sense deduction can be made that the phenomenon is of this Earth and not of another plant or world. Jim also revisited a commonly held skeptics belief that so called: earth lights or ball lighting could be responsible for what people believe to be alien spaceships. He explained how fault lines and seismic activity could create the ionic conditions for Ball Lightning and presented some startling statistics showing UFO reporting actually increases near fault lines or seismic activity, also with Sun Spot activity.
These were most intriguing observations that seem to receive little to no attention by the mainstream ufology community.
Jim also included some great pictures of the Martian surface showing some very interesting unexplained formations. "Wouldn't it be great if we could have our rovers there, but they're to busy looking for water."

Jim concluded his presentation with a good lesson from Jacques Vallee', a French-born venture capitalist, computer scientist, ufologist and former astronomer:
In his book: Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults (1980) Jacques Vallee discusses what he believes could be six major social consequences of widespread belief in "UFOs" They are as follows:

1. The belief in UFOs widens the gap between the public and scientific institutions.
2. The contactee propaganda undermines the image of human beings as masters of their own destiny
3. Increased attention given to UFO activity promotes the concept of political unification of this planet.
4. Contactee organizations may become the basis of a new, "high-demand" religion. The current conservative backlash against "decadent" morality and social liberalism has led many to reconsider their spiritual orientation.
5. Irrational motivations based on faith are spreading hand in hand with the belief in extraterrestrial intervention
6.Contactee philosophies often include belief in higher races and in totalitarian systems that would eliminate democracy.


After Jim, was Allen
Allen Richardson's presentation focused on on Altered states of reality as it may be tied in to the UFO and abductee phenomenon .
He began with the observation that: "Altered states seem to overlap with the abductee experience." Allen argued that studying these altered states was more intriguing because the results can be replicated in a laboratory.
Specific religious practices include the ingestion of the Ayahuasca root more commonly known as DMT. Which always seems to illicit very similar experiences in different people: you leave your body and usually encounter strange beings that can frequently resemble a mantis like creature,
Also kudos on Allen's slide show. Great transcendental art work including some work
by Alex Grey



Art work at the convention





































Adam Adds:
During Jim's presentation he touched on Mass hallucination.
Here's a recent story out of England involving many witnesses.
Thanks to the video we can somewhat get a feel for
what they're experiencing, hallucination or not. Check it out for yourself

Hollywood Writers To Go On Strike

The members of the Hollywood film and television writers union voted to authorize a strike after their current contracts expire. Thank God. We might be saved from additional boring, predicable movies and t.v. shows for a while.

"Then, the sergeant at arms seized his half-eaten candy bar and box of Tater Tots because no food is allowed in the chambers"

Lawmaker Says He Had A Rough First Night In Assembly Chamber
Representative Protests Budget Impasse


MADISON, Wis. -- State Rep. Tom Nelson said that he had a rough first night in the Assembly chamber.

The Democrat from Kaukauna started a sit-in at his desk on Thursday morning and has vowed that he will stay there until the Assembly and Senate pass the overdue state budget.

Nelson said that the air mattress that he was sleeping on ran out of air. Then, two strangers sneaked into the chamber and woke him up at 2 a.m., took a picture and told him to pass a budget.

Things didn't get much better on Friday morning. Nelson said that he had to take a cold shower in the state Capitol basement because there was no hot water.

Then, the sergeant at arms seized his half-eaten candy bar and box of Tater Tots because no food is allowed in the chambers. His request for a phone at his desk was rejected.

Despite the setbacks, Nelson said that he's hanging in there and is energized by the positive response he's gotten from the public.

Democrats and Republicans have been deadlocked over taxes and spending far beyond the July first budget deadline. The budget is about 15 weeks late.

More:
"We want less taxes and lower spending, and as long as we can try to arrive at that point we will be able to bring Republican votes and Democrat votes to pass a bipartisan budget," said Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem."

Giving up the tator tots and candy bar must of been tough. He must really
want to raise my taxes.

Thank You Harry Reid

Today, Rush Limbaugh has sent a powerful message to Harry Reid and the rest of Democrats that signed the Rush Limbaugh smear letter. Here is Harry Reid's pathetic attempt to take credit for the largest charity bid in the history of ebay, raising 2 million dollars for the letter and matched by Rush Limbaugh for a grand total of $4,200,200 donated to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement foundation."

Black "Jena Six" Students Are Not Victims of Injustice

It has been said that the black students involved in the "Jena Six" incident are victims of injustice. To figure out if I agree with this statement, as a white individual, I have flipped the races of all the individuals in question. For example, pretend for a second that six white students asked if they could hang out under a tree that black students frequented. After obvious approval, they went to hang out under the tree to find "die cracker" carved into the tree. Then as retaliation, the six whites students jumped one black student, that had nothing to do with the tree carving, and beat him unconscious. Then when it came time to punishing the individuals, the black students were suspended for carving the hateful message into the tree, and five of the whites students were prosecuted in juvenile court for beating the innocent black student unconscious. Furthermore, one of the white students had two prior charges related to violent acts, so the District Attorney decided to prosecute him as an adult. Under these circumstances I would not consider the white students victims of injustice. I would consider them criminals.

Anonymous adds: Oh, please, the double standard argument is ineffective because it is a strawman. Deal with the facts of the case, not speculation.

Aaron adds: Of course, while doing this exercise the facts of the case remained constant, and did not include any speculation. Rather, the races of all the individuals were flip-flopped. Sometimes, it is easier to spot injustices when one puts himself in the shoes of the supposed victim. Therefore, it would make no sense to consider this post a double standard argument, rather it is an exercise to clarify how principles of equal protection under the law were not violated in this case. Also, this post can not be a strawman because it does not refute anyone, but is rather a personal reflection. Thanks for the comment.

Two of "Jena Six" Defendants Present BET Award

Two of the six defendants in the "Jena Six" case presented the "most anticipated award during Black Entertainment Television's Hip Hop Awards show broadcast Thursday night." When they were introduced they were called two students involved in "systematic racism." Of course, these two individuals were apart of the six that jumped a student, that had nothing to do with the noose incident, and beat him unconscious solely because he was white. This glorification of violence is sick, and is all too common within the mainstream hip-hop industry. By presenting these individuals as heroes, BET only perpetuates the violence that plagues the African American community. When it comes to systematic racism these two were victims of it, but also engaged in it, and to a larger extent.

Nobel Peace Prize Loses Credibilty

Assuming Al Gore's theory of man made global warming is true, which it is not, awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize was a stretch. The basic theory behind awarding the prize to Gore was that man made global warming will ultimately lead to conflict due to the lack of natural resources caused by increases in the global temperature. The reality is the Nobel Peace Prize has largely turned into a popularity contest, where the recipient must subscribe to a left-wing ideology.

Think back to 2002 when Jimmy Carter won the prize. The main reasons were his participation in the Israel/Egypt Camp David Accords, and helping to bring peace to North Korea and Haiti. Well, obviously the latter did not occur, and it turned out that Carter played little to no role, except for providing a place for the document to be signed, in the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. Furthermore, his inaction during the Iranian hostage crisis has put the world in a situation today where one hears rumors of World War III as Iran seeks to go nuclear. Again, the reality was Carter was popular in a circle that subscribes to a left-wing ideology.

Side note: This year the Nobel Prize for Literature went to a feminist writer, and I'm not going to waste my time googling it to remember her name.

Thanks to Hot Air for this funny video


Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Free Jamie

FreeJamie.com
We haven't really covered this story yet. Apparently Jammie's lawyer thinks the fines are unconstitutional. To bad no one's ever tried to make that case before, like every time you watch a movie and that message comes up before the movie telling you that any illegal reproduction could land you as much as $500,000 in fines. But
no it's not unconstitutional until someone gets caught.

Lawyer argues 70 cents per song is enough in music downloading case
Mark Stodghill Duluth News Tribune
Published Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The attorney representing a Brainerd, Minn., woman found liable for $222,000 for illegally sharing copyrighted music filed a motion in U.S. District Court Monday asking for a new trial, or alternatively that most of his client’s liability be erased.

Minneapolis attorney Brian Toder said in his motion that the amount of the jury award is excessive and therefore violates the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. If not granted a new trial, Toder asks the court for a remittitur — a judge’s order reducing a judgment awarded by a jury when the award exceeds the amount asked for by the plaintiff.

Toder argues that the music industry offered no evidence regarding what their actual damages were. He suggests that his client owes $16.80 for the 24 songs she illegally distributed.
RELATED CONTENT
Duluth News Tribune Poll Icon How much would you fine someone for sharing copyrighted files?
Mark Stodghill Archive
Toder reached that figure based on an affidavit signed by a Los Angeles music industry analyst that he filed with his motion. The analyst stated that sound recording downloads are obtainable by the public for 99 cents per song with about 70 cents per song paid by the retailer to the record label.

On Oct. 4, after a three-day trial in Duluth, a jury found that Thomas willfully committed copyright infringement by distributing 24 songs on the KaZaA peer-to-peer file sharing network.

Jurors determined that Thomas was liable for $9,250 per song. They could have awarded the companies between $750 and $150,000 for each song.

In his motion, Toder called the jury award “not only astronomical, it is offensive to our Constitution and offensive generally.’’

Capitol Records Inc., Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Arista Records LLC, Interscope Records, Warner Bros. Records Inc. and UMG Recordings were the prevailing parties in the lawsuit against Thomas, a 30-year-old single mother of two.

“We think the amount of damages is absolutely unconstitutional,’’ Toder said in a phone interview Monday. “As everybody in the world knows, the plaintiffs had no damages. The 24 songs were downloaded to MediaSentry’’ — an information security company the plaintiffs used to download the recordings from Thomas.

“The plaintiffs would contend that hundreds of thousands of songs were downloaded,’’ Toder said. “There’s no evidence of that, just speculation. In the United States of America you don’t get damages based on speculation.’’

The head of litigation and anti-piracy for Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Arista Records testified during the trial that music piracy has caused billions of dollars of harm to the industry. Another witness testified that more than two million people were on the file sharing network at the same time as Thomas.

In his motion, Toder argues that if the minimum statutory award is $750 per song recording, the court “has the authority, if not the duty, to test the constitutionality’’ of that award because it is more than 1,000 times the actual damages or harm suffered by the plaintiffs.

Toder concludes his motion by stating if his client does not receive a new trial, the amount she owes should be between zero dollars and $150 total, comparing actual damages to the penalty; or $750 total if the court chooses to aggregate and deem all 24 song recordings in a single infringing act and then applies the statutory minimum penalty.

Thomas has established a Web site — “Freejammie.com” to help her with her legal fees.

“Hundreds of people are sending us thousands of dollars,’’ Toder said. According to the most recent entry on the Web site Monday, Thomas has received almost $14,000 in contributions. She said the money is going directly into a trust account created for her by Toder to be used for her appeal, which she thinks may ultimately go to the Supreme Court.

MARK STODGHILL covers public safety and courts. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 723-5333 or by e-mail at mstodghill@duluthnews.com.

Orginal Harry Reid-Rush Smear Letter

As of Saturday night the Harry Reid smear letter has raised $40,200 on Ebay.
End of the auction is still under a week away. Place your bets.

Jewish Americans Dominate Vanity Fair's Power List

This story will be used by anti-semitic individuals. It's a story about how 51 of Vanity Fairs top 100 most powerful people are Jewish. Though this is actually a positive story, it will sadly be used to fuel anti-semitic sterotypes.

Tunes

Yahoo launch cast player

Pretty cool stuff: Pick your genre, artist, favorite songs etc. Launch the player and in seconds your listening to your own customized radio. Requires internet explorer and a yahoo account. Theres probably only one 15sec advertisement per 5 or 6 songs. Enjoy.

Ann Coulter has a good eye for the lie

HotAir.com has the Ann Coulter video showing the so-called "controversial" comment made by Coulter to the extent 'Jews should be Christians' if they want to perfect themselves. Donny is obviously trying to antagonize Coulter during the interview. And as if he doesn't know who he's interviewing, stops the interview and says he's offended.
I don't really think Deutsch was offended at all by the above comment but was probably pretty angery when Coulter said "thats a lie" when Deutsch said he was a "practicing Jew".
It may be true that Donny Deutsch is a Jew. However, it seemed obvious by this part in the interview that the only way Deutsch could win an argument with Coulter was to allow himself to become personally offended by Coulter's comments on Jews. I think he was planning on it even before the interview. But no, he wasn't offended, he was angry, Angry that Ann Coulter knew he was lying and immediately called him out, destroying his last hand, the victim hand.
The classic: "Hey your not criticizing A religion, Your criticizing MY religion"



I'll give Ann Coulter credit in that she never backs down from her statements, She's not a politician

Democrat Panel Approves Armenian Genocide Declaration for Floor Vote

Today, a House panel approved sending a bill to the floor that would declare that the mass killings of Armenia in1908 (I believe) should be considered a genocide. Since the word 'genocide' was developed by the United Nation after WWII, the U.S. government has remained silent on the issue of whether to consider the Armenian genocide a real genocide as to not alienate an ally in a strategic part of the region. I personally consider it to be the first genocide of the 20th century, and at the same time, have always been confused why the Turkish government feels so strongly in their opinion that it was not a genocide. The atrocities were carried out against the Armenians by the Ottoman empire (which does not exist anymore). However, it is what it is, and today relations between America and Turkey are more important than any time in America's history. Right now it is estimated that about 70% of cargo headed for Iraq goes though Turkey, and the use of their airspace is equally important. Again, I and many other scholars agree that the atrocities should be considered a genocide, however, by the U.S. government declaring that it was a genocide will not bring back the loss of the innocent Armenian lives of the early 20th century. Since the government has been silent on this issue for so many years, one has to ask the question why now? Do the Democrats really want to make our operations in the war on terror even more difficult than they currently are now? If this passes we know there will be consequences. Tom Casey of the State Department said today that Turkey "has been very vocal and very public about its concerns about this and has said that they did intend to act in very forceful way if this happens."

Pastor Arnold Murray

An eye opening explanation of Genesis by non-denominational Christian Pastor Arnold Murray.

"that's why that science as well as anyone that has an eye or has any study in archeology or geology can tell you how old this earth is, millions of years old! And god's word declares it is. Theres no argument there with a learned person from God's word"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
http://www.shepherdschapel.com/

They're Here...

There's been a debate in the Midwest for awhile of whether or not Mountain Lions have been moving into our neck of the woods. For the most part scientists and eyewitness have been at a disagreement over this phenomena. However, a trail cam in Floodwood, Minnesota recently caught this picture.

Jimmy Carter Denys Geocide in Darfur, But Convinced U.S. Tortures

It is sad that Jimmy Carter has no problem accusing the U.S. of being engaged in torture, but at the same time he refuses to call the genocide in Darfur a genocide.

On Wednesday Carter told Wolf Blitzer he is convinced the United States engages in torture that clearly breaches international law. According to Carter he doesn't think it, "he knows it, certainly." However, when it comes to the issue of torture, it depends on how one defines torture. One needs to consider whether water boarding, sleep deprivation, and exposer to uncomfortable temperatures is torture. Then, in this case, it begs the question of whether those fighting us, not under the flag of a nation, but rather a hateful ideology fall under the protections of the Geneva Conventions. The point is this is a complex issue, and to take such a solid stance shows how he must be blinded by hate of the Bush administration, especially since he is considered one of the most indecisive Presidents in U.S. history.

However, when it comes to the genocide occurring in Darfur, Carter's seems to defend a regime responsible for the murder of 200,000 people.

"There is a legal definition of genocide and Darfur does not meet that legal standard. The atrocities were horrible but I do not think it qualifies to be called genocide," said former US President Jimmy Carter.

Though it is currently trendy and commonplace for Democrats to accuse the Bush Administration of committing war crimes, at least don't defend real war criminals, responsible for real genocides.

Conservative Blogs Get Victory Over Star Tribune

Here's a good story about grass root right-wing blog sites making an impact on the left-wing mainstream media. It is a story about the the changes the Star Tribune had to make after they let their left-wing biases take precedent over journalism.

As one Strib veteran tells the Mole, "The right-wing blog voices that were bashing the paper a couple of years ago, Hugh Hewitt and the rest, have gotten pretty much everything they wanted. The GOP wanted the Minnesota Poll gone, and now it's gone. They wanted to get rid of people like [editorial board members] Jim Boyd and Susan Albright and their editorial policy, and they've succeeded at that. Now there won't be editorials about the war and global warming; they'll write about local issues like zoning conflicts in Coon Rapids instead. They wanted the paper to hire a conservative columnist, and they got that. From here on out, it looks like the Strib becomes the conservative, suburbs-oriented paper, and the Pioneer Press will become the paper of the city underdogs and the blue voters.

Of course, the Star Tribune will never turn into a conservative paper, although the fact that the internal concern exists is entertaining. It's also interesting that when a left-wing news paper tries to make small steps to be more moderate, individuals of the far left will probably consider it a conservative paper.

From blog land

A great little story about man vs. machine from Basil's Blog Titled, Fixin Computers

Mitt Report

You've heard of the Drudge report. How about the Mitt Report? Organized By Mitt Romney's five sons.

Why not just enjoy global warming?

It's Tough to be Crazy All the Time

It's tough to be crazy all the time. Rather it's tough to expect a site with as many members that the Daily Kos has to have all their member be irrational all the time. Here's a blog from one of their members "Uncle Jimbo," and his thoughts on patriotism and the American left.

There has been much caterwauling about Rush Limbaugh's use of the phrase "Phony soldiers". It takes a willful ignorance to twist his usage into disrespect for honorably serving soldiers. He mentions the phoniest of this war's poseurs, Jesse Macbeth, by name right after using the phrase.

The facts have not stopped many from using this non-insult to try and score political points. Now the last pieces of the "We support the troops" facade are falling off. Kos diarist David Bailey openly hates on a soldier who served honorably and attempts a sad smear of this man and his family.

I thought the Kossack Empire was designed to win victories in elections? Does smearing decorated vets and their families fit in with this plan? I kinda doubt that is gonna play well in Middle America. Ya' know. Many people find it low and shameful to smear someone simply because you disagree with them politically. It's even lower to bring his wife into it.

I would refute the numerous inaccuracies in the screed, but it would be easier to cover the accuracies as they were few. He did spell Pete's name correctly. If this is the new tactic, "F**K the Troops!", for the MoveOn Kossack crowd, I heartily support it. Show your true colors. I know it made your flesh crawl when you had to say all those nice things about the troops. Heck they volunteered to kill brown people, right? F**K the Troops!

Good luck with that in the general election.

End quote

Uncle Jimbo has since been banned from the Daily Kos.

Iraq Suicide Bombers Traced to Syria

Today a report came out that traced suicide bombers in Iraq back to Damascus, Syria. These suicide bombers have, of course, been responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers. This report should also remind us of Democratic leaders, such as Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Kucinich, whom have both recently had friendly meetings with the Syrian regime. And no excuses, before this report, it was known that Syria was a state sponsor of terrorism.

Blackwater Declared Guilty by the MSM

No wonder why the United States is currently perceived negatively in the world community. Here is how the the AFP, which yahoo news re-published, describes the Blackwater USA controversy.

Rice ordered the move Friday following a probe into a September 16 incident in which staff of Blackwater, tasked with guarding US diplomats and dignitaries in Baghdad, went on a shooting spree in the Iraqi capital, killing at least 10 innocent Iraqis.

Media Matters Claim Nonpartisan Status

I got a chuckle out of this. Byron York of National Review recently called Media Matters "an avowedly political institution." Here's their response.

Media Matters is not, as the National Review claims, "an avowedly political institution," but a nonpartisan, progressive nonprofit that is unaffiliated with any political party or candidate.

Ok, Media Matters,..Ok.


Adam Adds:
Very funny.

Quds Day Lacks Reason

Today, in areas of the Middle East, thousands came out to march for the destruction of Israel. In Iran, thousands marched while displaying anti-Israeli signs, chanting "death to Israel," while burning Israeli and American flags. In Pakistan, adults and children brandished their AK-47s, while conveying the same violent message. In Jerusalem, because of the historic violent nature of this day, police forces were 3,000 strong, while patrolling the area where about 13,000 Muslim prayed at the Temple Mount. The occasion: Quds Day, or the Iranian-made holiday during Ramadan where Muslims call for Jerusalem and Israel to be handed over to the Palestinians.

Some time ago, in a speech at the University of Regsensburg Pope Benedict XVI stated that "violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul," and "not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature." This statement should make one think about about the violence-promoting demonstrations on Quds Day. Obviously, when police forces are necessary to monitor religious ceremonies, due to safety concerns, that religion is not acting with reason. When children are indoctrinated to wave automatic weapons in the air while chanting violent messages, that faith is not acting with reason. Ironically, this statement made by the Pope, caused violent riots and violent demonstrations to occur, only proving the point.

What If Israel Moved?

After reading this article about how Ahmadinejad wants Israel to be moved to Canada, Europe, or Alaska, I thought of a hypothetical. What if this did happen, and people of Israel said 'you guys can take all our land, were going to Madagascar (where Hitler wanted to move the Jews).' This hypothetical would beg one question. How long it would take Palestinians to destroy the modern infrastructure and technology Israel would have to leave behind? While they killed each other in, and rampaged this new territory, I'm sure they would still blame it on the Jews some how.

Poll: 1 in 5 Democrats Say World Better Off If U.S. Loses in Iraq

Today Fox News came out with a shocking poll that found one out of every five Democrats feel as though the world would be better off if the U.S. loses in Iraq. In other words one of five Democrats are not rooting for our troops to succeed there, plain and simple.

Democrats and Anti Military Statements

In the wake of the Rush Limbaugh controversy a lot of us have been thinking about the real offensive statements, made by actual policy-makers, about our troops. Many talk radio shows, and cable news networks, have been playing sound bites of these types of comments for the last week. I've been meaning to compile them for a blog, although fortunately for me because there are quite of few of them, Powerlineblog.com has beaten me to the punch.

Harry Reid (on "the surge"):

Now I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows: that this war is lost, that the surge is not accomplishing anything.

Dick Durbin (on Guantanamo):

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

Hillary Clinton (to General Petraeus):

[T]oday you are testifying about the current status of our policy in Iraq and the prospects of that policy. It is a policy that you have been ordered to implement by the president. And you have been made the de facto spokesmen for what many of us believe to be a failed policy.

Despite what I view as your rather extraordinary efforts in your testimony both yesterday and today, I think that the reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief.

John Kerry:

Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Charles Schumer (on "the surge"):

[L]et me be clear, the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda said to these tribes we have to fight al Qaeda ourselves. It wasn’t that the surge brought peace here. It was that the warlords took peace here, created a temporary peace here.

Charles Rangel:

If there’s anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment. If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.

John Murtha (on Haditha):

It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no fire fight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell.

Now, you can imagine the impact this is going to have on those troops for the rest of their lives and for the United States in our war and our effort in trying to win the hearts and minds.

Edward Kennedy

Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management.

John Kerry:

And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- the historical customs, religious customs.

Barack Obama:

We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.

Fred Thompson's Support of Rush Limbaugh

Out of all the Republican candidates Fred Thompson seems to be the one that has come out with the strongest amount of support for Rush Limbaugh.

"Congressional Democrats are trying to divert attention from insulting our military leader in Iraq and pandering to the loony left by attacking Rush Limbaugh. He is one of the strongest supporters of our troops, yet Democrats claim he is not being strong enough. I wonder who General Petraeus and his troops think is most supportive."

Other Candidates (McCain and Romney) seem to be hedging their bets stating "If" Rush Limbaugh meant what Media Matters said he meant, then he should apologize. Only we all know the truth about what Limbaugh meant by the phony soldier comment, so this position may seem, well, phony. It will be interesting to see if the Thompson camp sees a bump in the polls from his stronger support of Limbaugh. I suspect it will.

New South Park Episode

The rest of season 11 is here! Watch tonight at 10:00PM eastern time.

watch here

Congress Sneaks Hate Crime Legislation Past the Public

During the last Democrat debate on MS NBC, which I'm sure everyone watched, Hillary Clinton said that she hopes everyone votes for the new hate crimes bill that would be coming to the Senate floor. Excited that the Senate would have an opportunity to debate the bill and vote on it according to its own merits, I was soon disappointed to learn it was attached to the Defense Appropriations bill that passed 93-0.

Even though Congress refuses to openly debate hate crimes legislation based on its own merits, citizens should. Of course, one could easily argue that hate crimes legislation is a complete contradiction to the principle of equal protection under the law, and should be deemed unconstitutional. It makes no sense that person A can commit a crime on person B and get five years in prison, whereas, person C can commit the exact same crime on person D an get twenty-five years in prison, merely because the thoughts of person A during the crime differed from the thoughts of person C. This legal reasoning doesn't even take into account how problematic it is to prove in a court of law an individuals specific thoughts during a crime.

So while hate crimes legislation may feel good, it very well could be unconstitutional, and without a doubt problematic legally. For these reasons Congress should have the guts to debate the issue in front of the public, rather than sneak it past us.

Reid Calls Bush Veto Heartless

Here comes the spin previously discussed in "President Bush Vetoes SCHIP." Senator Reid has just called the veto "heartless." I felt it was heartless when Reid told us we lost the war in Iraq when the surge hadn't even started yet.

President Carter Tries to Get Tough With Sudanese Security Officails

Recently, former President Carter got into a shouting match with Sudanese security officials when they restricted his travels, while trying to visit tribal leaders in the problematic Darfur region. "We're going to anyway," Carter yelled at the security officials. Not surprisingly Carter agreed to a compromise to visit the tribal leaders at a different location later on. Carter got everyone all excited "he getting tough in his older years," people around him probably thought to themselves. Then, nope, same old Carter.

President Bush Vetoes SCHIP

Today President Bush vetoed the SCHIP program, and should be seen as a success to fiscal conservatives. The program Bush vetoed would have extended health care benefits to middle class families, and provide coverage up to 25 years of age. This program would also have been unsustainable by the year 2013. Part of the funding of this program would have been paid for from a raise in the Federal cigarette tax. In other words the tax would have been regressive. Poor individuals would have been paying for the health care of middle class children. Unfortunately, this will probably be spinned in a fashion to make conservatives look uncaring.

Clear Channel CEO Responds to Senator Reid

Here's the response to Senator Reid from Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays in regard to the Rush Limbaugh controversy.

Fund Raising Explanations

Drudge links to a Michael Cooper article in the New York Times today entitled "Democrats Surpass Republicans in Fund-raising." The article points out have Democratic candidates have been out fund-raising Republican candidates by a margin of 2 to 1. Two explanations for this. First, the number of potential candidates from each party. For the Democrats it seems politically accepted that Clinton will be the party's nomination. In contrast, on the Republican side, the ultimate candidate can realistically be anyone of four candidates. With the outcome so up in the air, Republicans could be waiting until after the primaries before they make a donation. Second, historically after a political party holds the executive branch for two consecutive term, the opposition party out fund-raises the outgoing party. Such was the case in the 2000 election when Republicans out fund-raised the Democrats, which had held the executive for two consecutive terms, 150.7 million to 63.1.

Dana Perino, Saving the best for last....

Dana Perino our new White House press secretary..

Aaron adds: Not bad at all

Clarence Thomas on Race and Public Perceptions, 60 minutes interview

Rush Limbaugh Challenges Harry Reid

Notice Drudge Report on the Screen behind him.
Harry Reid's Remarks on Rush

Canada is killing the earth faster than we are.

From Reuters:

"Canada's first ever Carbon tax was introduced today....

"It includes a per-litre levy of 0.8 Canadian cent for gasoline, 0.9 Canadian cent for diesel fuel, 0.96 Canadian cent for light heating oil, and C$8 a tonne for coal."
And why?
"Since 1990, greenhouse-gas emissions in Canada, a net exporter of energy, have risen more than in any other leading industrialized country, data submitted by the Group of Eight rich nations to the U.N.'s Climate Change Secretariat shows."
Looks like they're catching up to us.
Another great excuse to raise taxes.

Pensito Review.com wonders why congress doesn't condemn The American Conservative?

Jon Ponder blogging on Pensito Review.com writes about a cover article featured in The American Conservative magazine titled:
‘Sycophant Savoir’ and subtitled “General Petraeus wins a battle in Washington — if not in Baghdad.”-
Jon's question? "will congress condemn it like they did the Moveon.org Ad?"
He concludes with:
"We’ll be waiting (but not holding our breath) to see if anyone drafts a similar measure condemning the American Conservative magazine."

Well I think we'll be waiting a long time. Consider the following:
The American Conservative is a Magazine not a newspaper, so it has no obligation to publish anything but it's opinion.
Second, Jon's probably never read The American Conservative, if he had he would know its NOT a conservative magazine at all.
So theres never been the expectation, especially from conservatives,that they write anything good about the Bush Administration or the Military. It's a political magazine.

Rush Limbaugh Interviews Clarence Thomas

Rush
"I'm not sucking up here"
"How did you and your wife get threw this(confirmation hearings)without being bitter?"
Thomas
"My wife is my best friend, we'd only been married for 4 years when this happened, neither of us have ever been treated like that in our whole lives"
"We saw it as spiritual warfare." he described

Thomas
"I don't like Washington, I never really wanted to be on the court"
"But,when the president asks you do do something you should do it"
'I wasn't in it to get a prize' 'I was concerned about my family.'

Rush:
'I know why they tried to destroy you....
No guest has ever gotten more than an hour on this show, will be right back!'

Hugh Hewitt, writer for Townhall.com, reports on the failed attempt to smear Rush Limbaugh by Media Matters.

Hello October

Should Clintons brace for turbulance?

Mike Allen writer for Politico.com reports today that Mrs. Hillary hits a "Media wind sheer" with last weeks theme of "evasive answers, shady connections and a laugh that sounded like it was programmed by computer."
Could we eventually see a blow back from the media? I don't think Chris Wallace and Tim Russert like being laughed at by Hillary. I hate hate it when people laugh at me. I especially hate it when people point their finger at me, it's like they wanna fight you or something? Which reminds me of the Pre-Hillary anniversary interview. Bill "totally" invades Chris's personal bubble. It's just an interview man, settle down.



Bill and Chris Wallace Video

Hillary and Chris Wallace Video

Matt Drudge announces retirement

...well at least from his radio show. Matt announced Sunday his intentions to end his 9 year syndicated Sunday night talk show. His reasons, to "get to bed before 2am for a change". A caller tried to talk him out of it and Matt replied, "do you know what time I get up to start editing the drudge report?" Caller:"no" Matt: "7am!""did you think this was death til we part? Do you want me looking like Larry King or feeling like Katie Couric?"

I just wish I had listened to his show longer, It's got to be one of my all time favorite political talk shows.
Catch some Previous shows: here

or visit
Drudgereport

This image from Powerlineblog.com reminds us that even though we focus on Iran in terms of our own national security, the hands of the Iranian government are stained with the blood of many innocent individuals.

On Leave

I'm gone for a few days, Leaving the helm to Aaron for your daily last word. Cherio.

Dartmounth Democrat Debate

Here's my favorite quote from last night's Democrat debate at Dartmouth. When Hillary Clinton was asked who she would root for if both the Cubs and the Yankees made it to the World Series, she responded, "Well, I would probably have to alternate sides." This article also points out how Clinton's comments on U.S. use of torture also contradict her previous views. I guess when it comes to national security, Clinton would also alternate sides.

My favorite commentary about the debate comes to us from Powerlineblog.com, "Barack Obama provided the most thoughtful and (for the most part) direct answers. In the context of a Democratic presidential debate, that's a nice way of saying he lost." Very true, often time persuasion through confusion tends to be very effective for Democrat candidates.

Another interesting note is how Democrat candidates give answers in a way to please the far left-wing base, but give themselves wiggle room in their response. This is because what the far left wants would be poor and dangerous policy. An example of this is promising to get "combat troops" out of Iraq. Of course, this this would not include anti-terrorism and support troops.

See Hugh's post at 1:54 AM! It's on now.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

"There Is No Spoon Long Enough: Dining With Mahmoud"

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 1:54 AM

My new Townhall.com column is up.

If the most notorious anti-Semitic, genocide-inciting killer of American soldiers and Marines invited you to dinner, would you accept?

Sean McCormack gives us a Black Water update Via the....

.....the State Department's first-ever blog,Dipnote,which comes from the term: diplomatic note, defined as: A formal communication between an ambassador and a minister (usually the foreign minister) of this host government or another ambassador."
cool

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/blackwater_update/

A blow to the far left by congress?

House votes to Condemn MoveOn.org add

From Blog land

A blog from Iranian.com
Oh No You Did-ent! Ahmadinejad's Not My President!
by bahmani
25-Sep-2007

I find it nauseatingly hilarious that the media and world governments are so smitten by Ahmadinejad. The fascination they have with an insignificant little man they somehow have attached to, and think actually represents Iran, simply because has the title of "President", is simply astounding.

Let's be honest first, and then we can be frank. To be honest, the President of Iran is mostly ceremonial. Unlike most countries, Iran's military does not report to the President. Iran's military (along with all revolutionary guard, security and police forces) reports to the Supreme Leader. Not only does Ahmadinejad not lead the military, but he can't even fix your parking ticket! So forget about setting or implementing foreign policy. This is not the guy. The president of Iran is also not popularly nominated. (we'll get to the election in a sec) Candidates are nominated by yet another council but ultimately the Supreme Leader picks them out of his sweaty turban. So the reason why Ahmadinejad looks like a castrated lapdog on a leash, is because he actually is one. Once the candidates are picked by the SL, an election is held. Yes it looks like a real election. Except here too it doesn't quite meet international or even common friendly poker game standards. The government conducts the election, usually with the revolutionary guards to prevent "disarray" or to "protect" the voters. The government then counts the ballots. And the government announces the results. Not surprising that the elections appear reasonably successful. People in Iran are fearful of the government, this includes any hint that voting the wrong way, or not voting has "consequences". So as all sampling or polling or survey taking science tells you, if there is the slightest bias introduced in a poll, the entire result may be tainted. This explains why it appeared that Iranians voted (simplistically explained but actually true) for Ahmadinejad.

Now, let's be frank. For Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia to treat this non-representative of Iran as a normal western style President, shows how stupid Americans (including Condoleeza) can be at the real world game. To call him President is less than naive, to call him a dictator is an outright compliment. To allow him to speak at Columbia as if he was a) an Iranian or b) representative of the collective thought of Iranians, was guffawingly stupid. My son is getting ready to go to College. Based on the example of collegiate knowledge displayed by Mr. Bollinger, Columbia is not on our list.

You can build a Cadillac in Maine and assemble the rest of it in Texas. And you can put a spoiler and thick tires on a Peykan. But you wouldn't call either one a Porsche!

Islamic Republic News agency

Iranian academics ask 10 questions from Columbia University president Lee Bolinger and Brought to you by their very own Isalmic Republic news agency, almost makes Amadinajad look better than we do.

1. Why did the US media exert pressure on you to cancel President Ahmadinejad's lecture at University of Columbia and why did the US TV networks broadcast programs for several days against the Iranian president and did not allow him to respond to the allegations? Does this not run counter to freedom of expression?

2. Why did the US come to the help of Iranian dictator (deposed Shah) in 1953 and launched military coup against then prime minister Mohammad Mossadeq?

3. Why did the US back Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran in 1980 and supplied him with chemical weapons to attack both Iraqi people and Iranian soldiers?

4. Why doesn't the US administration recognize the democratically elected government of Palestine in Gaza and why does it oppose Iranian proposal to hold referendum in Palestine to end the 60-year old occupation.

5. Why did the US Army with its advanced weapons not capture Ben Ladan. How do you respond to the longstanding family friendship of President George W. Bush and Ben Laden and the oil deals with Bush and sabotaging process of inquiry into September 11 by the US president.

6. Why does the US administration support the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) despite that fact that it has carried out terrorist operations in Iran since 1981.

7. Was there an international consensus when the US invaded Iraq in 2003? What is the aim of killing several thousand Iraqis and where are the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for which the US unleashed the war?
Adam adds: You new this one was coming!

8. Why does the US Administration always support the non-democratic and military governments?

9. Why did the US administration give negative vote to resolution of IAEA general conference calling for making the Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction?

10. Why is the US administration dissatisfied with Iran-IAEA agreement to resolve the outstanding issues about Iranian nuclear program?

They extended an invitation to Bollinger to visit Iran and talk with intellectuals and ordinary people to see for himself the realities.

1416/1412

---> Iran-US-University

Tehran, Sept 25, IRNA

"Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday thanked all the nations and countries that have defended Iran's legitimate nuclear rights, including the members of the Non- Aligned Movement, its friends at the Security Council, IAEA Board of Governors, and its Director General."

Becoming an E journalist

John Hawkins at Right Wing News, gives us the following blogging tips:
July 11, 2007

Blogging: Tools Of The Trade -- Hardware and Software That Can Help Bloggers

It has been a good long while since I wrote a how-to article about blogging, but I thought it might be worthwhile to write a quick post about a seldom covered topic: what programs would be helpful for a blogger to have?

Now, the point of this isn't to cover content management systems or statistics trackers (although I use Movabletype, Extreme tracking, Sitemeter, and Onestat respectively), it's to go over some of the other programs that I use that can be useful for other bloggers.

Video & Graphics Related

CapWiz: This is the program (and external hardware) I actually use to pull video from TiVo. Technically, TiVo has a way to do it, but I was never able to figure out how to use the video in my projects when I pulled it over to my computer. I also do some editing with it. Cost: About $100

CinemaForgeLite: This is the program I use to download videos from YouTube to my computer. I find it to be a little flaky and other than on YouTube, I find that it doesn't tend to work. It also sometimes has weird audio problems in some formats. However, it's the best thing I have been able to find so far. Cost: free

Cyberlink PowerDirector 6: This is the program I use to make videos and I find it to be a very impressive, feature rich, easy to use program. It's an upgrade from PowerDirector 4. Cost: About $70.

HP Photosmart 435, 3.1 megapixels, Digital Camera: To tell you the honest truth, I'm not a real big fan of this camera. The next one I get will probably be something from Cannon in the $200 to $300 dollar range. Cost: I think it was around $150?

Photoimpact 11: This is the program I use to make graphics. It was an upgrade and I don't remember exactly what it cost. However, I am estimating $100.

Plantronics Headset: This is what I use to do audio for my videos. I bought this one because I walked into an Office Depot, grabbed an expensive headset and talked to their sound guy. He pointed me to a $25 Plantronics headset and said it was just as good as the $60 headset that I had. Although I don't really have the knowledge to evaluate these things, it seems like it does a decent job. Cost: About $25.

TiVo: This service comes in handy if you need to capture programs on TV so that they can be downloaded or watched later. Initial cost: about $100 and then $14.95 per month.

Misc Hardware

Brother MFC 210C All In One Printer/Fax/Scanner: On the upside, it does a decent job of printing things and the print cartridges are cheap, but on the downside, it's a little buggy and I think the scanner is subpar. Cost: About $120 on sale.

HP Pavillion a736n computer: This has 512 MB memory, 160 GB, 128 MB card, and an AMD Athlon chip equivalent to 2.2 GHz. At the time I bought it, the hardware actually seemed almost overpowering, but I have already bought a game that it's too weak to work with (Fear) and it couldn't handle Vista (which, from what I have seen, is fast but has lots of compatibility problems). I've toyed with the idea of buying a newer computer, but I am not that anxious to deal with Vista, so I probably will wait until my current computer breaks down or at least until Microsoft improves Vista a bit more. Cost: Don't remember exactly. I want to say, maybe, $700?

ProView 22 Inch LCD Monitor: Maybe I shouldn't include the monitor, but I'm not sure I would have ever ponied up the money and bought one this nice if I wasn't on the computer so much blogging. However, I have been happy with it. This one was an upgrade from a 19 inch regular monitor I bought on sale for $120. ProView cost: $220.

Other

Filezilla: This is the FTP I've just started using. Cost: free.

Google Talk: If I get the pro-version of Trillian, I could also check my Google Talk instant messenger through Trillian, too. However, I like the format as is and like checking my Google email account with a separate utility, so I use Google Talk instead of Trillian Pro. Cost: Free.

NoteTad Pro: This is the program I use to write and save my posts. It's not WYSIWYG, but it's nice because it has a handy code library that allows you add simple HTML with the click of a mouse. It also has spellcheck and a few other basic features. Cost: About $20, although I don't have the newest version.

ScreenPrint32: This is the program I use to capture screen shots. Cost: Free.

Trillian: Instant messenger is a must to stay in touch with other bloggers and sources. My accounts on AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, and MSN are checked through Trillian. I use it to check my email. Cost: Free.

PS: I'm toying with the idea of buying a Digital camcorder. Got any suggestions?

PS #2: If you have any suggestions for upgrades or other products that I need (the cheaper the better), add them in the comments section.

PS #3: On the one hand, if you look at the expenses here as startup costs for a new business (along with DSL), it's pretty cheap. On the other hand, if you're a new blogger and this looks like a lot of money, just remember, it took me years to acquire all this stuff and most of the things that cost money, deal with video. So, if you're not making videos, which 99 bloggers out of 100 aren't, there's little expense involved beyond your basic system (computer, monitor, etc.).

The Clinton Playbook

Today The Politico reports on another example of how the Clintons play politics. The Editors at
GQ Magazine were about to release a story about the troubles and infighting within the Hillary Clinton campaign. Since Hillary Clinton already comes across as rigid, this story would have confirm the characteristic, and would ultimately hurt Hillary Clinton politically. Soon after learning about this story, Clinton's aides offer GQ an ultimatum: Pull the story or lose all access to Bill Clinton. The story was pulled, and the Clinton's routine use of intimidation won the day again. Also, GQ should be frown upon for not standing up to the Clintons in the name of free speech.

Hugh Hewitt posts "Ahmadinejad in his own words"

"Ahmadinejad In His Own Words"
Thanks
Hugh

"For Sarkozy, the most burning issue is Iran's nuclear program"

Full Story Here

Matt Drudge has linked up a story up today titled: "A restless Sarkozy vows to lead Europe into a new era""

"He declared that France would return to NATO's military command
if his conditions are met. He announced that the French Navy
would help protect food delivery to Somalia.
He assailed his fellow Europeans for having no ideas."

"I want to tell the American people that the French people are
their friends," he said. "We are not simply allies. We are friends.
I am proud of being a friend of the Americans.
You know, I am saying this to The New York Times,
but I have said it to the French, which takes a little more
courage and is a little more difficult.
I have never concealed my admiration for American dynamism,
for the fluidity of American society, for its ability to raise people
of different identities to the very highest levels."

Almost sounds to good to be true, but we still don't have a clear idea what his stance on Iraq is.

Chris Wallace Interviews Hillary 9/23

Just listen to that laugh!
Part 1

Part 2

To strike or not to strike? That is the question.

Do we attack Iran now? Will Israel do it before we do? Are the questions the Bush administration has been mulling over.
Newsweek reports that Dick Cheney wanted Israel to bomb the nuclear site at Natanz, Iran would respond, giving America the go ahead to do bombings of they're own. Of course Newsweek has not identified its source.

North Korea Contemplates Reponse

Today on Drudge there's a link to an article in the Sunday Times about how Israeli forces initially obtained nuclear material in Syria before the elimination of the nuclear facility took place. Within this story, however, there appears to be a larger issue. According to the article, officials from North Korea met with the Chinese government last week to discuss a possible response to Israel's actions of self-defense. Apparently North Koreans were among those killed during the operation.

Adam adds:
I thought they said they were giving up their nuclear program? Apparently they're giving it away.

Beautiful Madeline Island lake shore

 

My Money's on Blackwater

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the employees of Blackwater, who are currently under heat for civilian causalities, are going to be exonerated. Blackwater's employees consist of highly skilled and professional individuals, and I feel that accusations are highly unlikely. Time will tell.


Adam adds:
looks like they're already back

Bush "I'm not gona comment"

"Saying I'm not gonna comment on the matter, means I'm not gonna comment. But you can ask another question if you like."

Rusty Humphries--An unreasonable seizure

Full Story here

Rusty Humphreys, conservative radio personality, says that an incident involving police and a university of Florida college student escalated to an "unnecessary use of force" when the student was subsequently tazered by police after resisting arrest. The incident began when the student interrupted a John Kerry speech by budging in line to ask a question.
Rusty says "the mans constitutional rights were violated"
He also reports that hes disappointed with fellow conservative Sean Hannity, who is quoted as saying 'he deserved to get tazer'
Rusty:
"the police created a scene!"
"He had a right of freedom of a assembly!"
To Rush and Hannity
"don't just say what they want you to say!" "do what's right"

Rush on the incident:
-Rush in a hurry recap:
"A student was tasered for asking John Kerry questions in Florida. Kerry, a former protester himself, just stood there answering, as the police took the guy down. The student asked about the Ohio recount, impeachment of Bush and the secret Skull & Bones society. That last one could be the reason Kerry allowed him to be dragged away. You don't ask about Skull & Bones."
Video:

Aaron adds:

I think Rusty wished that other talk radio hosts took his stance in order to make this Democratic function appear to be anti-Constitutional. However, principles only matter if individuals apply them to all situations, no matter of the ideology of the person or function of interest.

More Iran in Iraq

Usa today reports an Iranian officer was arrested Thursday for smuggling more road side bombs into Iraq, The same bombs that government officials claim kill American troops almost on a daily basis in Iraq. And also in the News President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, visits the United States for a UN committee and will simultaneously been given the pleasure of speaking at Columbia University's World Leaders Forum this Monday. According to John Coatsworth, interim dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, “Opportunities to hear, challenge, and learn from controversial speakers of different views are central to the education and training of students for citizenship in a shrinking and still dangerous world,”

Experts shocked investors aren't running to Gold? Arn't they already making money?

Muralikumar Anantharaman, a boston Reuters corrospondant reports that investment experts are "mystified" to see that gold at $738.10 an once, a 28 year high,isn't seeing much more "broad investor appeal". Gold's never been a bad one to have in your portfolio, but investors seem to be too busy enjoying the fruits of recording breaking closes.

Today In Blog Land

Hugh Hewitt at Townhall.com comments on Ahmadinejad's visits to New York, his attempted visit to ground 0 and his invitation to visit Columbia university:Link
My opinion: Welcome to New York Mr. Ahmadinejad your under arrest.

John Hinderaker at Powerlineblog.com reports on Bush's recent press conference where he was asked his opinion of the MoveOn.org add: Bush: "I thought the ad was disgusting..."

Captins Quarters reports on the highest bidder will have incentives to finish the the i-35 bridge fast but did not go to the lowest bidder as expected.

Not bad for an amateur

Here's the site she does her video blogs, very creative.

Rudy on the attack

Rudy's New Commercial

In case your missed the president's speech.

"The Willing Suspension of Disbelief"

Rudy's Counter add...

Tony Snow's last question as Press Secretary

John Gizzi, a political editor at Humanevents.com gets to ask Tony Snow his last question.

Q
“At the Christian Science Monitor breakfast yesterday, Secretary [of the Treasury Henry] Paulson commented that France and Germany have cut their corporate income tax even more than the United States, and suggested that that might be an endeavor the administration will pursue. Can you say that -- "
A
Snow replied: “Let's put it this way: We live in a very competitive economic environment globally. If you take a look at what's going on in our economy, increasingly exports are playing a major role in our economic growth. They're growing far more rapidly than imports. And in a global economy, what you need to do is to maintain competitive -- you have to be competitive. That includes such things as regulations, corporate tax rates and so on. And what Secretary Paulson was doing was reflecting our view that we need to be fully fit, because the rest of the world is not sitting still. They understand the challenges of competition in a global environment. They also understand the importance of free trade.
And in a situation like that where we are advocating for freer trade around the globe, we also want to make sure that our companies are not placed at a competitive disadvantage.”

“Thank you,” I said. Read John's blog here

Matt Lewis at Townhall.com: "Best Press Secretary of the modern era"

People should know fact from fiction when enjoying a newspaper

Rudy Giuliani expects to pay the same price as Move.Org did for their "controversial" "Petraeus or Betray-us"advertisement earlier this week. The cost: A discounted 165 thousand dollars possibly way less. Rudy wants to pay the same for his full page add. Maybe you could assume this is fair considering Rudy is such a loyal customer of the New York times.
But lets stick with our principles here...Move.Org has got the financial backing of George Soros, leftist machine, to keep the New York Times interested in his anti-Bush business, which itself is self limiting. Now at a 52 week low, the New York Times is fighting to stay alive anyway. My opinion is let the paper turn into the "New York Enquirer". I can understand this urge to get a punch or 2 in as they go down and we know Rudy's got a campaign to win, but I hope people are smart enough to know real news when they see it. Let us not waste our time.

JUST IN

A Pro Bush Group on the defense! Do they even exist?


IE.. According to Jake Tapper at ABCNews, the ad cost MoveOn.org approximately $65,000, running in the “A” section of the paper.

The New York Times rates on "advocacy" adds cost $160,000. I don't think they can afford to give any deals, even to Moveon.org, who probably doesn't care about that nasty rumor they got 1/2 off discount.


But just a twist on a Blogashere uproar: Hugh Hewitt's blog is a top hit a Google search right now!

"Moveon.Org Calls Petraeus "Betray Us", Says He's Cooking Books for White House - Democratic Senator Declares, "No one wants to call Petraeus a liar on national TV. Outside groups will do this for us."

Clinton's Past

Today, Hillary Clinton's brother settled a lawsuit in which he was convicted of selling Presidential pardons during the Bill Clinton administration. Just a reminder of the real criminal acts that occurred during the Clinton administration. Of course, Hillary claims she knew nothing about it. Kind of like she didn't know anything about Norman Hsu, even though she had earmarked a million dollars for his Woodstock museum, and has been seen in photographs with him. I find it scary sometimes how talented the Clintons are at lying to the American public. I think we need an investigative committee to answer some of these questions.

If Democrats Can’t Stop the War, They’ll Try to Stop the Surge

Presidential hopeful Barack Hussein Obama suggested earlier today that Congress should focus on creating a “ceiling” for how many troops can be operating in Iraq. The current surge strategy, which is still currently in the process of being implemented, has led to various successes in Iraq. However, good news in Iraq is bad news for Democrats, especially Democratic Presidential candidates. Therefore, it could come as no surprise that if putting in more troops shows signs of victory, Obama would favor limiting the number of troops that can be sent there. If "A" is successful, the Democrats want "B."

Global Climate Change: Man vs. God

Global Climate change should not be a political issue. Where were the scientists before Al Gore came knocking on their door? Did it really take an ex-Vice President to wake up the scientific community?
With such a major cataclysm on the horizon, WHY didn't we here from the scientists earlier?

If we think back, what was it that allowed Al Gore to capitalize on the Global Warming market?
If your not a hermit with NO access to the outside world, you may even agree that earthquakes, wildfires, floods seem to be more common occurrences. Measured against our recent collective history we maybe could even say that global climate change is happening.

We know the earth has gone through changes in the past that have effected humans. But can humans really do anything to change it? It would seem if you adhere to the argument that: 'we caused climate change in the first place so only we can stop it', you've given the cause and solution to a problem that is still being debated by science.
Heres how I break down the arguments:

Left: Global Climate change is happening because of "global warming" Global warming is caused by green houses gases, green house gases are caused by man.

Right: Global Climate change is happening because of the earth. The planet has gone through periods of warming and cooling in the past and will continue to do so. There is no scientific consensus that man has any impact on the climate whatsoever.

Even if we had a consensus that global climate change should at the least be investigated, We'd end up where we started: Man causes climate change or God does, and we know the left doesn't believe in God.