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50 dead in post-Zark boom campaign
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Break Out The Black Helicopters: Bilderbergers Meet
Logo of the Trilateral Commission. Run, run while there's still time!
I couldn't find a black helicopter or proper generic conspiracy graphic.
(Ottowa) It's like Woodstock for conspiracy theorists. A serene suburban setting has been transformed into a four-day festival of black suits, black limousines, burly security guards — and suspicions of world domination. On the outskirts of the nation's capital, a tony high-rise hotel beside a golf course is hosting the annual meeting for one of the world's most secretive and powerful societies. It's not the Freemasons. Forget those fabled U.S. military men who tucked away UFOs in the Arizona desert.

These guys, you've probably never even heard of, and if you believe the camera-toting followers who attend all their meetings, they control the world. They're called the Bilderberg group.

They include European royalty, national leaders, political power-brokers, and heads of the world's biggest companies. Those who follow the Bilderberg group say it got Europe to adopt a common currency, got Bill Clinton elected after he agreed to support NAFTA, and is spending this week deciding what to do about high oil prices and that pesky fundamentalist president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Some people say that I advocate a conspiracy theory. That's not true. I recognize a conspiracy fact,” said James P. Tucker. The 74-year-old American journalist has been following the Bilderberg group for decades, has written extensively about it, and recently published his Bilderberg Diary. He follows the group to its annual meetings and stands outside describing to other journalists details of his privileged access to their inner workings. He is not alone.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 04:17 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do they have gang signs like the Van Buren Boys?
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/09/2006 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  “These guys, you've probably never even heard of…”

Does it not pique your curiosity that this many lever-pullers meet every year with hardly peep out of MSM? I don’t know about the “World Domination” angle but I sincerely doubt these folks are discussing the results of American Idol.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/09/2006 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  They will discuss what we have been discussing. That Islam is not a religion, but a blood cult and we must put an end to it.
They will outline which countries can and will participate in the effort, and assure neutrality from other nations. They are mostly Europeans, and weaker now than they were, which has them in a slight panic. These men know the necessity of good timing, so I would think the war against Iran will result from this meeting.
Then again, they may accept dhimmitude......
Posted by: wxjames || 06/09/2006 10:45 Comments || Top||

#4  goddamer lizerd orgie all it is.
Posted by: muck4doo || 06/09/2006 11:47 Comments || Top||

#5  I wonder if those Canadian Muslim kids wanting to truck bomb had this target in mind?
Posted by: 3dc || 06/09/2006 11:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Also, suprised nobody (criminal or terrorist) has ever attempted a hostage taking for profit of these folks. Lots of money represented there.
Of course there would be no place to hide and enjoy the loot!
Posted by: 3dc || 06/09/2006 11:56 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't really know what's going on here, but I'm sure it's Bush's fault.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 12:16 Comments || Top||

#8  Where's David Icke when you need him?
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/09/2006 15:03 Comments || Top||

#9  David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Queen Beatrix of Holland, New York Gov. George Pataki, the heads of Coca-Cola, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Canada

Right. Nobody is going to notice the Queen of Holland took a trip or that Gov. Pataki isn't in NY anymore.
Posted by: Charles || 06/09/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#10  #5 I wonder if those Canadian Muslim kids wanting to truck bomb had this target in mind?

Maybe the pre-meeting security sweep is how CSIS stumbled across the plots in the first place? They had been watching some of terrorists for sometime and would make sure any potential plot was defused beforehand.

Otherwise, the Canadian liberals have considered it unthinkable these poor disenfranchised Canadian Muslim youths would ever spawn homegrown terrorism. They are stunned by the turn of events and unraveling of the UN scandals. Why, what if the unimaginable happened and Bin Laden actually boomed the Bilderbergers' hotel, leaving the entire world in Bush's control? He's a lone cowboy with integrity, following the trail wherever it leads, and they are probably having convulsions because neither OBL or the President conforms to their mold they want to place everyone in. They have been dissed and pissed-off arrogant power players are to be feared. The Bilderberger's will make everyone take the mark of the Beast, 666, or we can't use our Chase bank cards, but Rummy has a plan. He's set up a secret intelligence task force to infiltrate the royals of Europe, and Americans save the day once again. If all this isn't an international conspiracy, it sure makes for a intriguing series of novels and sequel films.
Posted by: Danielle || 06/09/2006 16:20 Comments || Top||

#11  He follows the group to its annual meetings and stands outside describing to other journalists details of his privileged access to their inner workings. He is not alone.

The truth is out there - way out there.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 06/09/2006 17:24 Comments || Top||

#12  Goodness, Danielle -- you're on a roll! ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 20:30 Comments || Top||

#13  Must have found out that Madonna's and siblings beer-and-deli loving great daddy knows what "Zarkey" said on the stretcher + the Norway, etal. meteor from yesterday. The Meteor = Horror, the Meteor, the Meteor ...
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 21:48 Comments || Top||

#14  Now you're just being silly, JosephM. ;)
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 23:51 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Textbooks Not Inciting Extremism, Says Naif
Interior Minister Prince Naif said the syllabuses of the Kingdom’s schools and colleges are progressive and free from any sort of extremist and terrorist ideology.
"Yeah, sure. Just ducky. No xenophobia here."
Prince Naif refuted reports published by the right-wing US think-tank, Freedom House, that allege Saudi textbooks are filled with extremism, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
"Lies! All lies!"
Addressing a press conference after a graduation ceremony at the Naif Arab University for Security Sciences in Riyadh on Wednesday night,
The very concept makes my mind boggle. But lately I'm becoming overboggled...
Prince Naif said that the Saudi syllabuses were based on Islamic education. He also said, “If there are some people with deviant views and ideas, then we should not hold the syllabus responsible for their deviation.”
Why not? If the syllabi point them in that direction, then they're a contributing factor. Of course, I also hold the princes responsible, though not quite as much as the holy men...
Prince Naif added, “We oppose those who associate backwardness with Islam and think that Islam is against progress.”
Kind of hard to disassociate "innovation" from "progress," isn't it? And innovation's haram...
Prince Naif spoke about a host of issues including attempts to classify Saudi society into liberals, secularists and Islamists. “Saudis oppose such classifications. We are Muslims adhering to the teachings of Islam, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah (the Prophet’s teachings),” said Prince Naif.
"There ain't but the one opinion allowed, so everybody has it. So just shuddup..."
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We ain't so naif as Naif thinks we are.
Posted by: SLO Jim || 06/09/2006 12:12 Comments || Top||

#2  I keep saying that the only way we're going to win this war is to eliminate the HOuse of Saud. Nuking Riyadh and Tehran would dry up the money IMMEDIATELY to the jihadis, as well as going a long way toward eliminating Wahabbism as a major player in islamic society. The longer we wait, the more trouble these high-handed camel-jockeys can cause.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/09/2006 17:17 Comments || Top||

#3  I still think a wetworks op against the princelings paying for the jihad one-by-one would get the message across loud and clear
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 18:31 Comments || Top||

#4  This clown is not an ally. Why are we tolerating the house of Saud and their "country" again? PD knew what we need to do and where. He been there and done that. These folks are not our friends. GWB needs to get the message.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 06/09/2006 18:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Prince Naif said that the Saudi syllabuses were based on Islamic education.

Thus the bigotry and hatred in the textbooks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/09/2006 19:10 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Builds BeiDou, aka GPS Lite
China's foray into military space satellites has turned out to be as problematic as their endless attempts at building a nuclear submarine that works. Three years ago, China completed a satellite navigation system called BeiDou. Think of it as GPS light, and different, and not very useful. Sound familiar? BeiDou only covers East Asia, but not all of China. But it covers the areas along the coast, and Taiwan. The BeiDou system is less accurate than GPS, slower, but it does allow two way traffic. This is useful for sending short messages (up to 120 Chinese characters so, about a hundred words). Sort of IM (Instant Messaging) class stuff.
The Chinese freaking love IM. They have a chat system called QQ that everyone uses.
The system can only handle a few hundred thousand users, but that would be sufficient for the number of Chinese troops involved in any major operation. BeiDou also suffers some reliability problems, and is apparently very vulnerable to jamming and spoofing.
I'm sure an E-3 could take care of it.
Because of all that, it is believed that BeiDou is just a first generation system. A training system, one where China learns the ins and outs of building satellite navigation systems. No word on when BeiDou 2.0 might appear.
Posted by: gromky || 06/09/2006 08:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The story sounds fishy to me; a little too quick to dismiss it. It's hard to believe that after 20 years of intercepting and analyzing american GPS signals, they would spend the time and money to launch something inferior to decades-old technology. A more "Chinese" tactic would be to launch and test in a degraded mode, and then actually turn it on when they need it.
Posted by: Canukistanian || 06/09/2006 19:22 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't know...the Chinese can be horribly inefficient. It has to be seen to be believed.
Posted by: gromky || 06/09/2006 19:44 Comments || Top||

#3  sounds like DOS attack potential
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 20:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Iff the Chicoms emulate the Cold War Soviets, they'll spare nuthin', scarce $$$ + human lives, Chinese andor anyone else, to learn the ropes of advanced US-NATO techs. Once the world finds out, "accidents/incidents" will be PC blamed on America-NATO.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 22:07 Comments || Top||


Chinese government gives Shanghai residents 5 days holiday for SCO summit
The upcoming Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) summit is being greeted with extra warmth by residents of the city, as many will be given five days holiday during the event. According to a notice issued by the municipal government at the end of May, all the city's school children, civil servants and some private sector workers will not have to work from next Wednesday to Sunday (June 14-18). However, they will have to clock in this weekend.
Typical Chinese...have a holiday, and then work extra to make up the time. The fact that it's weekends has absolutely no meaning.
The notice said the holiday is due to some specific traffic control measures in the city during the summit period.
I bet...the People's Armed Police will be out in force.
Many residents are preparing to travel outside Shanghai during the holiday, dubbed a "Mini Golden Week" by travel agents who have reported a surge in reservations.
Posted by: gromky || 06/09/2006 03:22 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  g: Typical Chinese...have a holiday, and then work extra to make up the time. The fact that it's weekends has absolutely no meaning.

You know - that also happens for the regularly-scheduled holidays - the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and National Day. They get week-long holidays, but have to work seven days a week for the prior weeks. (For the uninitiated, China has a six-day work week).
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/09/2006 20:05 Comments || Top||


Europe
Army 2007 Germany transformation and rebasing plan
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/09/2006 18:30 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nostalgia for those who served in Germany. At the end of the article is a listing of actual unit movements.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/09/2006 18:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Can we finally claim victory in WW II now that the U.S. is disengaging?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 06/09/2006 19:13 Comments || Top||

#3  No blood for beer. Bring the troops home now!
Posted by: Spang Fleger3829 || 06/09/2006 19:44 Comments || Top||

#4  No - while we won the major battles, we still haven't won their hearts and minds.
Posted by: anonymous2u || 06/09/2006 20:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Definitely nostalgia. We used to spend Saturdays between the Burger King and the bookstore at Abrams Air Force Base in Frankfurt, then on to the ChiChi's for dinner... except when the city mayor was in a snit about unfair competition with the local, overpriced talent. I've always been afraid to add up how much we spent there over the years. I s'pose Mr. Wife had good reason to be grateful we didn't have PX privildges, too... ;-) We really suffered when the base closed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 20:39 Comments || Top||

#6  AT last check the Army is proceeding wid dev of its quad-rotor future attack transport and other designs/systems - the day is looming when any and all Army-Marine divisions and brigades will be self-deployable + air-mobile = air assault = air mech/landing capable.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 21:43 Comments || Top||


Record meteorite hits Norway -- impact comparable to the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima
Afternposten

At around 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, residents of the northern part of Troms and the western areas of Finnmark could clearly see a ball of fire taking several seconds to travel across the sky. A few minutes later an impact could be heard and geophysics and seismology research foundation NORSAR registered a powerful sound and seismic disturbances at 02:13.25 a.m. at their station in Karasjok. . . .

[Astronomer Knut Jørgen] Røed Ødegaard said the meteorite was visible to an area of several hundred kilometers despite the brightness of the midnight sunlit summer sky. The meteorite hit a mountainside in Reisadalen in North Troms.

"This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the (atomic) bomb," Røed Ødegaard said.

Cool photo at the link. How do you say "Incoming!" in Norwegian, anyway?
Posted by: Mike || 06/09/2006 17:22 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who gives a rat's ass.
We got Zarkawi!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/09/2006 17:30 Comments || Top||

#2  We could always hope Mullah Krekar decided to take a walk that fine evening...
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/09/2006 17:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Too bad this thing didn't come down inside Iran (preferably smack on top of Qom or Tehran or even Nahjif or wherever their underground nuke bunker is).

'Course, that woulda' been Bush's fault too.

Big rocks can make big dents in the countryside. Obviously the asteroid watchers missed this one.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 06/09/2006 18:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Umm, God?

Put a bit more easting windage and drop the aimpoint south quite a bit. That ought to bring the impact where we needed it, say, right around Tehran or Qom.

Sincerely, one of your FO's.
Posted by: Oldspook || 06/09/2006 18:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Sorry Spook, not this time.

Let's just let yesterday's event settle in for awhile. Besides, Satan is having a hell of a time inboarding my latest problem child so things are backed up at the River Styx.

He was the anti-me you know. Nice touch with the crater ejecta forming a cross, yes?

Wow, look at the space-time continuum. Prayers are stacking up and I need to get back to beating the pants off of Einstein in a craps game - gotta run.

Love you all - stay in touch.


Posted by: GOD || 06/09/2006 21:13 Comments || Top||

#6  True Madonna fans knew about the meteor, didn't everybody + FBI-CIA-NSA???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 21:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Here is a picture of the impact zone:
Hard to determine relative sizes without a reference.

Posted by: DanNY || 06/09/2006 22:38 Comments || Top||


France's Villepin runs into protests at car plant
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is a man, under fire after a stalled effort to cut youth unemployment, took more flak on Thursday from angry auto workers who lambasted his plans to keep older people in work.
You'd think the auto workers would be happy, building replacements for the carbeques, but no ...
"You don't learn anything!" one of a group of demonstrators from the CGT union called out as Villepin visited automaker Peugeot's plant in Poissy near Paris to promote his initiative to cut joblessness among older workers.
We don't want to work, we want to retire on nearly full pay, now! It's your job to make that possible.
He's a politican, he's supposed to learn something?
"There are 500 young people who've just been laid off while the older ones have been broken down by their working conditions and ask only to be allowed to leave in dignity!" one protester said.
'cause dignity is very important to socialists.
Villepin, who earlier this week launched his plan to get at least 50 percent of 55- to 64-year-olds in employment by 2010, initially tried to reason with the demonstrators before telling them that the CGT represented no more than 20 percent of union members at the plant. "If you follow that logic, (President Jacques) Chirac only represents 19 percent of France," a demonstrator snapped back. Chirac won only 19 percent the first round of the 2002 election.
Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Villepin's own approval ratings are close to all-time lows for a French prime minister at just 20 percent.
And those 20 percent don't like him much ...
He has been hit by accusations that he tried to smear his rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, in a corruption scandal. The affair came on top of a failed bid to introduce new labour contracts for young workers, and riots last year in poor suburbs. "In the polls, you're at 20 percent as well, your policies are finished," a demonstrator shouted.
Maybe he could join George Galloway's 'Respect' party?
Posted by: ryuge || 06/09/2006 06:36 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  France's Villepin runs into protests at car plant

heh heh auto formage, the gud kind
Posted by: UAW || 06/09/2006 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Let that loathsome republic die.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/09/2006 13:31 Comments || Top||


Belarus retaliates against West with sanctions
Belarus said on Thursday it had barred entry to European Union and US officials in retaliation to a similar ban by Western countries to denounce President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election. Western countries, long critical of Lukashenko's tough line on dissent, dismissed as blatantly rigged Lukashenko's landslide victory in March giving him a third term in office.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. One of the great minds of the 20th century at work.
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  HHHHHHHmmmmmm, no follow-up article in the 'BURG concerning RUSSIA's potens move of its Black Sea fleet to its new naval base in TARTARUS, SYRIA, plus the growing alliance/possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND and other nations. TARTARUS > since both Russia's former Red Banner Northern Fleet and Pacfic Fleet is mostly laid up, hard up, and rusting away, basically Russia is protecting its econ vital WW2 Lend-Lease land route thru Iran, as protected or covered by Russian ground, air, and strategic missle forces since the Navy can't do it anymore. Iff my histoire' is correct, the Iran lend-lease route was second only to the NORTH ATLANTIC/MURMANSK RUN to helping Stalin's human-wave happy Soviet Army survive and fight agz Hitler's OSTWAR.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I didn't realize the Iran route had been that important, JosephM. My father was involved in that effort, as a Russian translator for the British (the Jewish community of Palestine provided a group of translators for the war effort, since at the time Britain refused to allow them to join the army -- it being feared that if the Jews learnt how to march and clean guns, they might turn those skills to self-defence against the Arabs when they returned home). One of his many experiences in that time that he hasn't told his offspring more than the very barest of details. But he did learn to speak some Farsi...
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 1:37 Comments || Top||

#3  possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND

Not bloody likely, Joe, it would be like merger of fire and water. Alliance yes, merger no.
Posted by: twobyfour || 06/09/2006 4:21 Comments || Top||

#4  OMG! Sanctions I am going to have to do with what? Belarus doesn't provide any thing I need or that I use.


It's jst Alexander Lukashenko falp, fap, fapping away.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 06/09/2006 6:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Wow, someone actually reads the Mendola posts? I just breeze through them onto the way to the next comment.
Posted by: gromky || 06/09/2006 7:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Ditto. I've yet to read a coherent sentence from him.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 9:25 Comments || Top||

#7  it being feared that if the Jews learnt how to march and clean guns, they might turn those skills to self-defence against the Arabs when they returned home

Events seem to have shown that to be a reasonable fear.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/09/2006 9:36 Comments || Top||

#8  possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND

2x4 is right: this is a non-starter. I've got Ukrainian ancestors and one aunt who married a Pole. Trust me on this one. Just a few reasons (overly generalized but more or less valid):

Ukrainians: Orthodox church
Poles: Roman Catholic

Ukraine: the western frontier (= meaning of 'Ukraina') of the steppes
Poland: the eastern edge of Europe

Lots and lots of history wrapped up in just those two differences.

Alliance? Maybe, if Ukraine moves into the US-friendly sphere of eastern European countries that are seeking some shelter from both the EU and Russia. But more likely, Poland solidifies its position in the EU and Ukraine ... swings back and forth, unfortunately.


Posted by: lotp || 06/09/2006 10:03 Comments || Top||

#9  "You'll miss me when I'm gone! Just you wait! You'll see!"
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/09/2006 10:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Believe it or not there was talk in the early 90s about a Poland-Belarus merger.
Posted by: Rafael || 06/09/2006 11:26 Comments || Top||

#11  Is it official policy that the first comment in every thread is given to a person with a reputation for run-on sentence after run-on sentence?
Posted by: Crusader || 06/09/2006 11:35 Comments || Top||

#12  Is it official policy...

Policy? No. More like tradition.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 06/09/2006 11:58 Comments || Top||

#13  On the other hand, we don't get first comments that say, "First!!!" Life is a trade-off. ;-)

And be careful skipping straight over JosephM's comments. At confusingly irregular intervals, he says something concise, informative and insightful. There's some very interesting stuff buried deep in that brain of his -- although whether the result of personal experience or good dinner parties I'm not qualified to judge.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 12:14 Comments || Top||

#14  "At confusingly irregular intervals, he says something concise, informative and insightful"

TW, I've no quarrel with you my dear. After all, anyone who appreciates my recipes and calls my Mother 'loving' has me hooked. However, the statement above could also be said about nearly every wacko I've known. Not that JM's a wacko, mind you, just mind-numbing to read.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 12:23 Comments || Top||

#15  It's like he uses math operators like + and = instead of verbs and such. He also inserts thoughts from different levels of awarness into the middle of a sentence. Then, there are the title-like adjectives which bring summaries of whole eras into an explanation, like WW2 Lend-Lease. The noun collapses under the weight of the text of descriptions suggested by these adjectives, leaving the sentence a trainwreck laying beside the highway of thought.
Thanks, nontheless, Joe.
Posted by: wxjames || 06/09/2006 18:30 Comments || Top||

#16  Joe is actually an early Borg for Earth. Soon you will all be assimilated. Notice "Shipman" no longer posts?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 19:09 Comments || Top||

#17  mcsegeek1, I've lived a very sheltered life -- JosephM is the first wacko I've ever known, so I have no basis for comparison. When he first started posting here, the level and prescriptions of his medication were openly questioned. Now I think he's just playing with us much of the time, although anonymous5089 says he's hooked into some of the odder brands of conspiracy thought.

Frank G., you are a wicked, wicked man!
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 20:49 Comments || Top||

#18  LOLOLOL Jenifer - I'm just a willing tool of the evil oppressers
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 21:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
BREAKING--MURTHA V. HOYER:
HT Frank G

Major news from the House: Pennyslvania Congressman John Murtha has begun delivering a letter to his Democratic House colleagues announcing plans, should Democrats retake the House this fall, to seek the number-two job of House Majority Leader. This would almost certainly entail a showdown with the current House Minority Whip, Steny Hoyer. I just called Murtha's press secretary, who confirmed the letter and read me the following statement from Murtha:

Our goal is to win the House back and if there is an open seat I'm the candidate.

As readers will probably know, Murtha is a close ally of Nancy Pelosi who favors a fast withdrawal from Iraq. Hoyer is more inclined to tough it out in Iraq, and has a long history of friction with Pelosi.

Update: Steny Hoyer's office has given me its own statement in response:

Mr. Hoyer has worked extraordinarily hard to unify the caucus and take back the House for Democrats and that is his first focus. As a result of that unity he is confident that we will be successful in November and intends to run for Majority Leader. He believes his work as whip, caucus chair, and with the DCCC has earned the support of the overwhelming majority of House Democrats.

Adds a senior Democratic aide: "A lot of members are very angry that Jack Murtha has decided to blow up the caucus and declare a leadership race when we are the most unified we've been in years. We're really focused on taking back the house and should not be distracted with a leadership race. It's going to be a huge diversion."

This could get ugly. More soon.

Lots more, I hope.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/09/2006 16:17 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  His P/R has gone to his head.

When's he up for re-election?
Posted by: anonymous2u || 06/09/2006 20:21 Comments || Top||

#2  thx for the HT NS!
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 20:55 Comments || Top||

#3  This is a DREAM action for the Republicans. Gives them terror ammo for fall election.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/09/2006 23:03 Comments || Top||


Guard troops will be armed in Texas, NM
AUSTIN: More National Guard troops in Texas and New Mexico will likely be armed than troops helping to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in California and Arizona, state officials said. “The governor certainly wants to make sure our men and women in the National Guard are able to protect themselves if their assignments are in areas that will put them in danger,” said Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
My God! Soldiers given guns! Oh the humanity!
An agreement all four states signed with the federal government outlines general guidelines for use of force under Operation Jump Start, but each state's National Guard leader and governor set specific protocols that determine the level to which soldiers will be armed.

Officials in Texas and New Mexico said troops there will be armed if their assignment could put them in harm's way. A spokeswoman for Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said most of the troops in that state would not be armed. And an Arizona National Guard official said an “extreme minority” of troops there would carry weapons.

“The mission sets we're working out with law enforcement agencies won't require it,” said Arizona guard spokesman Paul Aguirre.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 09:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What idiot (politician) would even suggest that the guard go to the border unarmed? Trust me they look a lot more impressive when they are carrying M-16s and makes bad guys think twice before they decide to mess with them.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 06/09/2006 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, but will they be issued pointy bullets? Those could poke your eyes out if handled inappropriately.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/09/2006 11:15 Comments || Top||

#3  What idiot (politician) would even suggest that the guard go to the border unarmed?

Maybe latte drinking Californian blues. To include those who’ve migrated to AZ. NM and TX still have a good flavor of the ‘old west’ in their blood. Roosevelt county in NM is named after Teddy “don’t pull your guns unless you intend to use them” Roosevelt.
Posted by: Glaising Glaigum5899 || 06/09/2006 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, MR, I'd rather they DIDN'T carry pointy bullets. I'm told that the cute ones with the dimple in the tip are much nicer. ;^)
Posted by: AlanC || 06/09/2006 12:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Two incidents from the LA Riots, only one of which I am sure is true make it clear that when the bad guys come up against the guard, they lose.

The Definately true one:

A truck tried to run over some guardsman shortly after they arrived in the city and the driver got himself riddled as the Guard demonstrated that truck vs automatic weapons isn't a win for Mr. Truck.

The Wish-it-was-true one:

Guardsman helping police search for suspects got asked by the police to cover them as they served a warrant. The Guardsmen, for whom the words provide cover have an entiring different meaning, opened fire on the house, to provide cover fire for the cops. The cops got them to stop, then went to serve the warrant with the lucky occupants rather happy to be merely arrested.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 06/09/2006 16:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Nothing would seal the border faster than wild firing from eager half-trained kids. Way to go.
It would also help if there were an occasional outburst of shooting in the bush.
Posted by: wxjames || 06/09/2006 18:05 Comments || Top||

#7  LOL, Silentbrick! The second one, a perfect example of miscommunication with the desired result, needed a coffee alert, lol! If only... :)
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 18:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Arnold is not against armed troops IIUC - he's looking for political cover so Nov's win is secured. Angelides would use it to fire up the Latinos. Should one guardsman suffer an injury due to not being armed, the entire border becomes an auto-weapons zone and we've started the road to shutting off the illegals. I welcome that day, just pray nobody gets hurt...on our side
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 18:48 Comments || Top||


Powell Says Border Walls Won't Work
Trolling for $$$... We need a "For Sale" graphic.
(Mexico City) Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that extending walls along the U.S.-Mexico border will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.
Oh really? What is it with "Ex" State Dept assholes?
"The Berlin Wall did not work perfectly and the wall that the Israelis are putting up is not going to work perfectly," Powell said. "So, a wall alone is not the answer."
Lol. We don't need perfect, just good. Second, it's to keep people OUT, not IN. And who said "alone"? You can stop sucking, now.
The Berlin Wall worked pretty well, just ask the people who tried to climb over it ...
An immigration measure approved by the U.S. Senate offers illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship while extending fences along the border. The House passed a measure making all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges. Negotiations to reconcile the proposals have yet to begin.
And this is as disingenuously as AP could frame it. The Senate Bill is amnesty. The House Pubs tried to remove the felony provision - and were thwarted by the Donks. Can you say partisan politics? Piss off, AP.
Powell, speaking at a business conference in Mexico City, said any new barriers should include gates and other entrances to provide easy- access between both countries.
The boy is out there, earning his pay, fellating the money. Cancel his passport.
We can have gates and access -- and Border Patrol guards at each one.
He said U.S. authorities should let many of the estimated 12 million undocumented migrants already in America earn some form of legal status through expanded temporary-worker programs.
I sense a return engagement for ol' Colin.
"We have to find a way for them to live in dignity and not in fear," he said.
They can start by obeying the law. No fear and obvious dignity in that.
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 03:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well Colin you asshat, the Berlin wall was not built to keep people OUT, but to keep people IN. As far as the Israeli wall is concerned, it's not completed yet, but in areas where it has been finished, terrorist incursions have been virtually elimininated. It does work, and it would seem, very well. You sir are an asswipe 'moderate'. Mr. Miagi said it best: Frog walk on left side of road, safe. Walk on right side of road, safe. Walk in middle, get squish, just like grape.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 8:51 Comments || Top||

#2  So why dear Collin o'boy didn't you push for dismantling the barrier between North and South Korea when you were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

"The Berlin Wall did not work perfectly and the wall that the Israelis are putting up is not going to work perfectly," Powell said. "So, a wall alone is not the answer."

And prison escapes happen all the time. So by that logic, I guess we should just do away with the walls around prisons and jails too.

There is no perfect. There never will be perfect. You just do what you can and get on with it.
Posted by: Glaising Glaigum5899 || 06/09/2006 8:58 Comments || Top||

#3  I have yet to hear a single border hawk propose any policy arguing that "a wall, alone, will solve all of our immigration problems, and will work perfectly". Why, then, does every talking head (including Jorge) present this straw man as the alternative view that is being espoused? I think it's because they KNOW their argument is weak. The longer he, Jorge, Kennedy, Mccain, et al. repeat this fallacious construct of the argument, the madder the American people are going to get (at least, this American person).
Posted by: mjh || 06/09/2006 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  It's not that it wonk work, it's that it won't work "perfectly."

It's working in the majik kingdom and India, isn't it?
Posted by: anonymous2u || 06/09/2006 10:19 Comments || Top||

#5  "...any new barriers should include gates and other entrances to provide easy- access between both countries."

And the entrances should have ivy covered garden trellises with hanging plants and fountains. Or maybe instead of entrances there should be a giant sling-shot with a padded landing just like an amusement ride.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/09/2006 12:32 Comments || Top||

#6  LOL DepotGuy.....
Like the slingshot in Dilbert's Desktop Games?
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 12:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Like the "Kid-A-Pult" in "Richie Rich"
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/09/2006 15:53 Comments || Top||

#8  I didn't know why at the time, but when Powell first came to light in the first Gulf War, he's always seemed weak. This has been demonstrated of course, by his actions later and I admit I am disappointed. Despite our history of having generals that are soft in the head, one always hopes for more Pattons, Bradley's, and others that were complete with brain AND spine.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 06/09/2006 16:22 Comments || Top||

#9  I hate to admit it, but Powell's right. So, let's add electric shock zones like a third rail effect.
You don't see people crossing the subway do you ?
Posted by: wxjames || 06/09/2006 18:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Sir,

I served you, and with all due respect, you're full of shit on this one. You and I and any other military person knows that walls and other barriers are not impervious. They aren't meant to be. And nobody is claiming that they are - they are only as good as the planst to back them up with manpower and laws.

As we know, fences and other barriers are there to canalize movment of the opponent into areas in which we hold the tactical and strategic advantage, as well as identifying, slowing and delaying the opponent's movment to give us adequate time to react with the proper force.

Your disingenuity is obvious - you're only a step away from spinning a lie. Stop It General Powell, you're a better man than that.

Posted by: Oldspook || 06/09/2006 18:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Stop It General Powell, you're a better man than that.

I'm starting to reserve judgement based on teh last couple yrs. I think Condi was an upgrade
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 19:05 Comments || Top||

#12  Condi is the one with balls, set, one each.
Posted by: Spang Fleger3829 || 06/09/2006 20:00 Comments || Top||

#13  "One each"?
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 20:53 Comments || Top||

#14  they don't come in pairs aftermarket
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 20:58 Comments || Top||

#15  tw, I wondered about that too. Then I recalled Alexander Godunov's best line in the movie "Witness" -- "It only takes one."
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 21:04 Comments || Top||

#16  it still has to be connected to a spine - I see this as OUR advantage
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 21:11 Comments || Top||


Democrats Want Rep. Jefferson Out of Post
Democratic leaders worked to strip embattled Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment on Thursday after the Louisiana lawmaker rebuffed repeated calls to step aside pending completion of a federal bribery investigation. Jefferson, at the center of an increasingly complicated legal and political controversy with racial overtones, insisted he would not go quietly. "I can guarantee" he will not voluntarily step aside, said Melanie Roussell, his spokeswoman.

The congressman has not been indicted and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. He is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, with authority over taxes, Medicare, trade, Social Security and more. Several officials said Jefferson had rebuffed a final appeal to step aside in a meeting with three fellow Democrats dispatched by party leaders. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the delicate nature of the conversation. Within hours, the same leadership group met and voted to remove him from the panel, at least temporarily, according to officials familiar with the deliberations. These officials said the vote was not unanimous, reflecting at least some disagreement about the case. The entire Democratic rank and file was summoned to an evening meeting to ratify the action, but they put off a decision until next week.
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not all donks want Jefferson out of post. The Congressional Black Caucas is challenging.
Posted by: Captain America || 06/09/2006 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh by all means please keep him on the committee.
I am counting the number of avertisements that will feature corrupt Democrats in november.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 06/09/2006 1:27 Comments || Top||

#3  The boyz on FNS, even CNN?, are mostly in consensus the evidence against Jefferson is damning, and that the Dems need to do something or they'll suffer at elex time.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 1:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Sorry, FNS > FNC/Fox News Channel.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 1:54 Comments || Top||

#5  (np.... took it as Fox News Sunday.)

They oughtn't forget his near-commandeering of a helicopter to get him to his house after the hurricanes. (Didn't want the hard, cold cash to thaw out in the freezer?)
Posted by: eLarson || 06/09/2006 6:57 Comments || Top||

#6  “I can guarantee he will not voluntarily step aside.”

Atta-boy Willy…never let em see ya sweat. Oh, BTW, say Hi to the Dukester for me.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/09/2006 12:56 Comments || Top||

#7  ask the CBC members whether they'd pose for pics with him right now.... they'll say no to protect themselves. They don't have the same concern for America
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 13:40 Comments || Top||

#8  It's racism, that's what it is!
I blame Bush for this guy!
Or, umm, errr.....
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/09/2006 15:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Gonna be tough using Republican corruption as a campaign theme when one of your boys has bundles of cash in the freezer.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/09/2006 22:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Man held for desecrating Holy Quran
Police arrested a Shia Muslim for allegedly burning the Holy Quran, an official said on Thursday. Police arrested the man on Wednesday in Rawalpindi after burned pages of the Holy Quran were found in his second-floor apartment in the city's Ghazni Road neighbourhood.

Police searched the home after the detainee's relatives reported seeing him carrying copies of the Holy Quran and walking with a cameraman into his apartment, a Rawalpindi police officer said on condition of anonymity. The man has not been officially charged yet but is due to appear in court soon. No date has been set. The cameraman was also detained but he is expected to be released, the officer said. Police suspect the man may have been trying to make a movie of the burned Quran to use it as evidence to implicate some of his Sunni neighbours in a blasphemy case, the officer said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The burned pages are obviously a set-up. What is uncertain is, who intended to set up whom. Just another episode in the 14 century-long desecration/blasphemy racket.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 06/09/2006 1:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Saudi authorities routinely sieze and burn the non-approved korans of Haj pilgrims.

Posted by: john || 06/09/2006 7:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Let's really piss 'em off. I call for a "National Day of Urinating on the Koran".
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 8:52 Comments || Top||


MiG-29 fighter jet of Indian Air Force crashes in Western India
A MiG-29 fighter jet of the Indian Air force crashed on Thursday in Jamnagar in Western India during a routine sortie. Pilots of the aircraft had managed to eject safely before the plane crashed, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Four more crashes and he'll be a PAKISTANI or CHICOM ace.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  heh heh heh
Posted by: Xenophon || 06/09/2006 1:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Four more crashes and he'll be a PAKISTANI or CHICOM ace.

kold Joseph very chilly
Posted by: RD || 06/09/2006 2:47 Comments || Top||

#4  This was a two seat trainer.

The IAF may want to look again at the Russian bid for the 126 fighter plane tender. Additional Mig-29s may not be such a good idea. More reliable western aircraft would perhaps make more sense.

For the first time, the Indian Air Force have been invited to the USAF Red Flag exercises next year.
Cooperation between US and Indian fighter jocks increases every year.


Posted by: john || 06/09/2006 6:34 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Apologise or we'll cut your funding, US envoy tells UN
AMERICA’S bitter dispute with the United Nations escalated last night when John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, threatened to withhold funding to the organisation unless it apologised for the remarks of a senior British official. Speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies in London, Mr Bolton assailed Mark Malloch Brown, the British Deputy UN Secretary-General, for the disparaging remarks he made about the American public this week. “Mark Malloch Brown has a sentence in his speech where he says the role of the UN is a mystery in Middle America,” he said. “Maybe it is fashionable in some circles to look down on Middle America, to say they don’t get the complexities of the world and they don’t have the benefit of continental education and they are deficient in so many ways,” Mr Bolton added. “It is illegitimate for an international civil servant to criticise what he thinks are the inadequacies of citizens of a member government.”

The tough-talking US envoy reiterated that the dispute could harm important reforms to the international body. He also hinted that the US Congress, which controls American government spending, might reconsider US funding to the UN, which accounts for 22 per cent of the organisation’s annual budget. “Congress has the power of the purse and they feel quite strongly on a bipartisan basis that America has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, even people from Middle America,” he said, with a note of sarcasm. “I don’t think we have seen the end of it.” Before Mr Bolton arrived in London, Kofi Annan, the UN chief, tried to play down the controversy. “I think the message that was intended is that the US needs the UN, and the UN needs the US, and we need to support each other,” Mr Annan said. “I think the speech by my deputy should be read in the right spirit and let’s put it behind us and move on.”
Posted by: Fred || 06/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wretchard at The Belmont Club has the link to the full text of Brown's obnoxious speech, co-sponsored by John Pedesta's Center for American Progress. Noticeably attendees: George Soros and Mad Halfbright.

While Bolton doesn't have the wherewithall to cut funding by himself, look for the House to follow up.
Posted by: Captain America || 06/09/2006 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Will say again there's always the RUSSIANS - post-Saigon, unified Vietnam's and even Red China's, frowned-upon "Americans/Euros without Money". PRAVDA.ru's headline ala this morning's coffee > RUSSIA TO RETRIEVE ITS STATUS AS WORLD'S GREATEST SUPERPOWER. See also INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE [IHT.com] articles on Russian downward-sliding demographics, i.e. Russia's population may be 80-100Milyuuhn only by 2050, sub i.e. less than 1/2 of what America is now.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/09/2006 0:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually Joe, that would make Russia's population 1/3 to 1/4 of the US population : 298,933,286, according to http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html. It would make Russia less populous than the US in 1940 - not a good thing for a country facing an expantionistic China with a billion people on its border.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 06/09/2006 1:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Heh. Wind old Henry Hyde up and let him go, he'll take care of the House.

We'll have to euthanize the Senate, however.
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 1:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh gawd, he's British - sigh. I apologise for that.


“I think the message that was intended is that the US needs the UN, and the UN needs the US, and we need to support each other,” Mr Annan said. “I think the speech by my deputy should be read in the right spirit and let’s put it behind us and move on.”


Typical BS from the Tranzi-crowd, one of their minions has uttered what they really think of their hosts (and I use the word 'host' in relation to parasites), and the chief parasite uses the tired narrative of the leftist-statist crowd; "let's all just move on".

Mr Annan, the UN needs the US a lot more than the US needs the UN, as I think you will now find out when Darth Bolton 'has a word'.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 06/09/2006 1:44 Comments || Top||

#6  "You want bitchy? 'Cause I can DO bitchy, pal..."
Posted by: mojo || 06/09/2006 2:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Apologise or we'll cut your funding, US envoy tells UN

Pay per View MMA Death Match

John Bolton Forces Mark Malloch Brown to Submit
Posted by: RD || 06/09/2006 3:49 Comments || Top||

#8  I think a cut by the USodA and Japan is in order regardless. It should be a substantial cut.


Let France and Germany pick up the slack. It's only fair, Since those governments seem to that are so superior, advanced, and inteligent and think we are backwards and ignorant.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 06/09/2006 6:20 Comments || Top||

#9  As far as I'm concerned the UN can't do anything right. Can't even put together a decent program to feed an area under famine in a reasonable time, can't keep the peace anywhere unless the locals are tired of fighting, and can't do anything else effectively that I can think of except to backpeddle on everything as soon as they see something might actually happen. Yes, they might have 18 different areas where they are monitoring the peace and they might not take a lot of money to do it, but all they do is watch and not do anything. How much can that cost? Who needs 'em, anyway? I would like to pick up the paper and see something like "UN gets food to an area before everybody there turns into toothpicks for a change", or maybe "UN kicks Iran's ass hard enough for them to behave". Enough of the "threat" of sternly worded notes and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while waiting for a situation to just "go away". DO SOMETHING WORTH WRITING HOME ABOUT FOR A CHANGE! Oh yeah, I forgot the second thing the do well: Obstructionism. Comes from thinking too much, which results in doing too little. You can't run this world by committee. Too many crazies out there in charge who don't give a $hit if half of their people starve as long as they get to live a decadent life before they die of old age. Or maybe they think they can trash the world because Allah told them it's OK in a dream.

Something's wrong with the UN in it's present form, and with all this Politically Correct thinking these days, I'm not sure it's even possible to have a UN. Just get rid of it and wait for countries to put out a call for help before someone goes in to bail them out. That's basically what happens these days anyway.

Am I missing something here? :-)
Posted by: grb || 06/09/2006 6:52 Comments || Top||

#10  "Am I missing something here? :-)"

Nope. I've been paying attention to the U.N. off and on for about a half-century now, and I've seldom seen it coming even close to earning its keep-- and I've NEVER seen it do anything that made me say, "Thank God for the United Nations!"

Kill it, before Soros and his ilk succeed in their ambition to turn the U.N. into a world government.

Posted by: Dave D. || 06/09/2006 8:00 Comments || Top||

#11  That's a foolish move calling middle America dumb. If all of our right wing bitching and complaing about the UN fell on deaf ears in the midwest, it won't now. Piss off the heartland and see how it goes. What we need is more idiots like Brown saying stupid crap about our heartland and they will find the UN in the ocean just past the Statue of liberty.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/09/2006 8:07 Comments || Top||

#12  An interesting note...prior to my enlightenment, I was a devoted reader of The Economist, Mark Malloch Brown used to be managing editor of that publication. When the scales fell from my eyes, I cancelled my pricey subscription.

Now that I clearly see trans- (supra-?) national progressivism as the cancer that it is, I wince every time I hear this guy's name.

UN Delenda Est

< tin foil hat > the Economist has a fascinating intellectual ancestry, as a major organ of the LSE school of economics, its roots go back to Keynes and the Fabian Society. < / tin foil hat >
Posted by: mjh || 06/09/2006 9:35 Comments || Top||

#13  While Bolton doesn't have the wherewithall to cut funding by himself

I'd imagine Bolton is on a pretty short leash, as in he don't say nothing Condi doesn't see first.

Bush may be willing to veto the appropriation in the event one can even get through. (Wouldn't that be a nice first.)

So Kofi and Malloch are now between a rock and a hard place.

Note also that the donks who prevented Darth Bolton from being confirmed have said nothing about his comments. No calls for his resignation, not defence of Malloch Brown. Bolton's right, that sentence is a very very big mistake. He dissed the voters. Always a mistake in a democracy.

Maybe he'd like to insult the japanese next.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/09/2006 9:43 Comments || Top||

#14  oh please, oh please!

Tokyo would be ever so polite and apologetic as they regretted their inability to contribute heavily this year.
Posted by: lotp || 06/09/2006 9:58 Comments || Top||

#15  You know when I was a kid, I always thought that there was something weird about the kids that took the UNICEF boxes along for Halloween. It just seemed strange somehow. Giving money to the pagan babies was one thing, but forgoing candy for some acronym agency was something else alltogether.
Posted by: 11A5S || 06/09/2006 10:12 Comments || Top||

#16  "...the role of the UN is a mystery in Middle America"

By the way...What is the role of the UN these days? I'm not ashamed to say...it's been a mystery to me for some time.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/09/2006 11:03 Comments || Top||

#17  Is it too early to start a "Cut and Run" policy with respect to the un? Clearly they are in a "quagmire", too many times the U.S. must are "uniltarally" to get things done, and I don't think anybody has an "Exit Stategery."
CUT FUNDING AND KICK THEM OUT!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 06/09/2006 11:07 Comments || Top||

#18  I'd rather see a cut BACK in funding the UN rather than a total cut. Announce it as maybe $00.005 per head that'd be about $1.5 mil. Kinda like the idea of leaving a 2% tip. Talk Japan and Austrailia to contribute on the same basis.

Then we could wait for Kofi &co. to suggest kicking us out. That would be fun.
Posted by: AlanC || 06/09/2006 11:13 Comments || Top||

#19  The Shadow of the Olive Tree: Fisking Malloch Brown

BelmontClub: Malloch Brown's Message to America with side by side Fisking
The complete roster of speakers as given in the program is listed below.

1. Madeleine Albright, Principal, The Albright Group; former U.S. Secretary of State
2. Mark Malloch Brown, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General
3. Introduced by Jeffrey Laurenti, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Download
4. Jim Leach, U.S. Congressman from Iowa
5. Richard C. Leone, President, The Century Foundation
6. John Podesta, President, Center for American Progress
7. George Soros, Founder and Chairman, Open Society Institute

[..]
a comment on Belmont's fisk
The UN spokesman giving a lecture to the United States along with Madeleine Albright, John Podesta, and George Soros about American criticism of UN activities? This same Mr. Malloch Brown, while making a net take-home salary of $125,000 a year, was paying $120,000 to rent from Mr. Soros a house adjacent to the billionaire's personal home in Westchester County. The same Malloch Brown trying to justify the 64 billion dollar question on UN Iraqi oil for peace program. Had the UN been conducting itself properly regarding sanctions against Iraq, it is unlikely we would be in the mess in Iraq. Why would there be American criticism over the UN? What are they missing over at Fox?
[..]
Posted by: 3dc || 06/09/2006 12:09 Comments || Top||

#20  There was something about that in the linked article, which is worth reading in full

Mr Annan, under fire from Republicans, began a UN reform drive and sought advice from his American friends, predominantly Democrats. After a secret meeting at the home of the Clinton Administration’s UN Ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, Mr Annan named Mr Malloch Brown as his chief of staff in January last year.

The appointment raised eyebrows when it was reported that Mr Malloch Brown was renting a house on George Soros’s estate for $2,500 a month less than the previous occupant. Even before Mr Bolton was named US Ambassador, he seemed destined to clash with Mr Malloch Brown. Mr Soros, Mr Malloch Brown’s landlord and old friend, helped to fund the Stop Bolton campaign, aimed at stopping him from getting the post.

Mr Malloch Brown has been criticised by dissident UN staff for aligning the world body too closely with Democrats in US domestic politics. They accuse him of allowing a UN staffer, Justin Leites, to play a leading role in the 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, violating staff rules. It is a charge that he denies. “I don’t consider myself aligned with any American political establishment,” he said. “I am British. I have worked in the UN and in international jobs all of my life.”
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/09/2006 13:10 Comments || Top||

#21  Stating the obvious: "Middle America" = "Red states"
Posted by: Captain America || 06/09/2006 16:49 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Hispanics to Hold Citizenship Workshops
WASHINGTON -- Hispanic members of Congress and Latino groups said Wednesday they will build on recent immigrant demonstrations by conducting citizenship workshops around the nation on July 1. By helping more immigrants become citizens, the Hispanic lawmakers hope that they will increase the number of voters who might help defeat candidates considered anti-immigrant.
Newsflash: as Hispanics become citizens, they trend conservative and Republican.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said the workshops will "harness the power and potential of the massive marches and peaceful protests we have seen across the country" in response to a border security bill passed by the House.

The bill, whose chief author is Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., included a provision making all illegal immigrants in the country subject to felony prosecution. That provision was considered the primary trigger for protests. "The current immigration debate and particularly the Sensenbrenner bill that passed the House last December has made citizenship a priority for these men and women," Gutierrez said.
Dumb provision 'cause we're not going to imprison 6 million or so people. Should have been removed at the start, but the Doinks like it in there now 'cause it helps with recruiting and fund-raising.
Rep. Grace Napolitano, a California Democrat who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said an estimated 8 million legal immigrants in the country are eligible for citizenship. The workshops will be open to immigrants of all races and ethnicities, she said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 06/09/2006 10:04 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a good thing when those eligible finally take the steps necessary to become full citizens. My darling Quebecois mother-in-law finally did so after four decades of residence, a husband, two children and four grandchildren -- as was surprised at how happy she was after taking the oath of allegience. She's paid careful attention to the issues and the candidates ever since, and has voted in every election. She votes Republican/Conservative, for those who wondered. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 12:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Also, this will peel away the legals from the illegals -- a very good thing, indeed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/09/2006 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  I have no real problem with this.
Posted by: Secret Master || 06/09/2006 12:41 Comments || Top||

#4  none here either.
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds like a great idea to me. Most legal immigrants are anti-illegal-alien.

But somehow I dont think they mean 'legal' immigrant but 'illegal alien'. I have a sneaking suspision that they are going to have workshops on playing the system. (as in... "you dont need real documents... just have your friend write a note and backdate it 6 years as proof of being here for the requred time...").

BTW: the 'mass marches' weren't conducted by immigrants but illegal aliens ( the real anti-immigrants ) and other people (A.N.S.W.E.R.) who hate the united states.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/09/2006 15:51 Comments || Top||

#6  That reminds me. My wife has been here for 3 years. Time to start the Naturalzation process. As I recall immigrants who come under a Fiancee Visa (K1) only have to wait 3 years (not 5...).
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/09/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||


Babs To Tour; Pollute Atmosphere
If she really cared about Climate Change, she'd walk...
Barbra Streisand announced her first U.S. tour in over a decade on Thursday, saying that she planned to play 20 concerts in October and November to raise money for charitable causes.
Her and her entire entourage sheperded about in armored Hummer limos ...
"The increasingly urgent need for private citizen support to combat dangerous climate change, along with education and health issues was the prime reason I decided to tour again," Streisand said in a statement announcing the tour. "This will allow me to direct funds and awareness to causes that I care deeply about," she said.
Wow, no typos from Babs! There's a first. Must have used an editor and spell-checker.
The statement said the proceeds from the tour would be distributed through The Streisand Foundation, whose Web site says it supports causes such as human rights, breast cancer support, the environment and public policy studies.
Anyone know how much of the money raised is soaked up by Babs and her entourage?
Posted by: Glavitch Angineter5765 || 06/09/2006 03:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this why Comedy Central rebroadcast the "Mechastreisand" episode this week?? ;)
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 06/09/2006 8:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Will she be contributing to global warming by flying to concert dates in her environmentally-unfriendly private jet?
Posted by: Mike || 06/09/2006 9:27 Comments || Top||

#3  When every hasbeen mighthavebeenacelebrityonce latches on to an idea it's a sure sign it's all over for the dumb idea.

Good. I'm heartily sick of the Global Warming nonsense. We need to move onto the next enviroscare. I suggest volcanos and how we need to manage volcanic eruptions cos they cause global warming/cooling, tsunamis, bird flu, whatever, the specifics doen't matter, cos it's BADDDDD!
Posted by: phil_b || 06/09/2006 10:06 Comments || Top||

#4  word is she and Brolin are splitting - she needs a hobby now
Posted by: Frank G || 06/09/2006 14:08 Comments || Top||

#5  If she really cared about Climate Change,

she'd stop exhaling.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/09/2006 14:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I gave up on Babs a couple of decades ago. Haven't watched any of her movies, listened to her "music", or rented any DVDs or CDs featuring her in any role. She can have her 'tour' - I hope it's as well-received as the Dixie Chicks' tour.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/09/2006 17:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Didn't the old bat announce her "retirement" not to long ago?

What is it with these over-the-hill flaks and sportsters that make them think they can make repeated comebacks from retirement?

Another lefty celeb jumps the shark.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 06/09/2006 18:08 Comments || Top||



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