COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, January 22, 2009



Mexico police chief's head found in ice box
The head of a Mexican police chief was delivered to his colleagues in an ice box in the country's latest drug-related violence.

Last Updated: 6:31PM GMT 20 Jan 2009

The incident came as 16 other people were also killed in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua in attacks the authorities believe are linked to the country's drug wars.

"Hitmen cut off commander Martin Castro's head and left it in an ice cooler in front of the local police station," said a statement issued by the state justice authorities.

His head was left in the town Praxedis with a message from the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.

The police commander was abducted on Saturday, along with five other police officers and a civilian, only five days after starting his job.

Six bodies in police uniforms bearing signs of torture and gunshot wounds were found on Monday in a street in the state capital, Chihuahua, officials said.

Hitmen killed four men in separate attacks in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, while six others, including a woman, were found dead in other towns across the state.

Mexican police and soldiers are battling a wave of drug-related violence across the country, particularly in northern areas bordering the US, with more than 5,300 people killed last year.

The federal government launched a campaign against drug-related violence more than two years ago involving the deployment of around 36,000 troops across the country.

184 comments:

  1. Sounds like the palestinians have moved in...

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  2. Worry not, these fellas are not Msulims, so they are not a threat to US or our residents.
    But that is only true if we limit the definiton of a threat to the evil that Muslim terrorists do,
    fer sur.

    I mean, if they are not Muslims, the threat is not 'real'. Even though the odds of a US resident being killed by a Mexican criminal are forty times higher than an Israeli being killed in combat with Hamas during the course of a military operation or the criminal acts that are the justification for that military action.
    FORTY TIMES

    The Mexican evil doers, they do show a fondness for cuttin' off the heads of policemen and soldiers that will not accept their bribes and do their bidding.

    By the bye, there is still more oil in Mexico than is going to be extracted and used, by US, in Iraq.

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  3. DR: I mean, if they are not Muslims, the threat is not 'real'. Even though the odds of a US resident being killed by a Mexican criminal are forty times higher than an Israeli being killed in combat with Hamas during the course of a military operation or the criminal acts that are the justification for that military action.
    FORTY TIMES

    Just because Hamas SUCKS at aiming doesnt take away the fact that they ATTEMPT to murder..

    IF your palestinians start shooting rockets over the border let's see how ya'll will react...

    You really love to twist reality...

    Maybe Israel VALUES it's citizens more than YOUR government values you?

    That sounds like your problem, not Israel's

    I guess your children are not worth much in the eyes your own government...

    what does that say?

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  4. Reset to Sept 10, 2001:

    Obama to Shut Guantánamo Site and C.I.A. Prisons
    President Obama is expected to sign orders that would rewrite American rules for the detention of terrorism suspects.

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  5. "By the bye, there is still more oil in Mexico than is going to be extracted and used, by US, in Iraq."
    ---
    You just said that to see if you could rouse Rufus from his stupor.

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  6. Isn't a head in a box more civilized than loose heads on a danceroom floor?

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  7. What's your source for
    "FORTY TIMES"
    'Rat?
    ...I don't doubt it, I'm just curious.

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  8. Breaking Tradition-- Obama Blows Off Medal of Honor Recipients
    Change--
    For the first time in 56 years, since Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated, President Obama blew off the "Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball" last night at the Rennaissance hotel in the nation's capital.This Aint Hell has the details.Sad.The Obamas did make it to ten other balls during the evening.

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  9. Isn't a head in a box more civilized than loose heads on a danceroom floor?
    :) what a story that was
    ------


    I'm Next--And After Me, You

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  10. just read the words...


    Even though the odds of a US resident being killed by a Mexican criminal are forty times higher than an Israeli being killed in combat with Hamas during the course of a military operation or the criminal acts that are the justification for that military action.


    wtf....

    it's so qualified that you can make it say anything...

    and thus...

    once again, it's total bullcrap....

    here are facts...

    the gazans, left to their own devices, decided NOT to build a society based on normal country... they decided to become a war-like death cult and has shot over 7000 rocket, mortars and missiles into Israel...

    The Gazans have invaded and murdered israelis, they have kidnapped, they have suicide bombed discos, pizza cafes & more...

    regardless of DR meaningless stats, the GAZAN have declared war on Israel...

    Israel by all legal rights set out by the UN, AS A MEMBER OF THE UN, can attack and destroy those who seek to destroy her...

    the fact that Hamas, the democratic government of Gaza, NOT a COUNTRY, and not recognized as such, seeks to start wars it cannot defend against is irrelevant...

    The FACT that Israel does not act as the USA did in the INDIAN WARS, nor in the Spanish AMerican war or in the Texas Mexican wars all make DR statements meaningless...

    If DR wants to bring into the arguments stats...

    How many Indians did the US kill to conquer the AMericas?

    How many Spanish, Mexicans?

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  11. Well doug. it goes like this.

    The Mexican criminals, in the US, have killed 40,000 legal residents, not counting the lives lost to transshipped heroin and cocaine.

    Since Israel is 2% the size of the US the proportional number of Israelis would be 800.

    Prior to the Israeli initiating Cast Lead they had lost 4 of their residents to the Hamas rockets.

    During the campaign another 12 were killed, best as I was able to ascertain.

    Totally 16, which I brought to 20, in case there were deaths that were not accounted for.
    I figured 20 killed by the terrorist Hamas element in Gaza and their rockets.
    Compared to the proportionate US casualties of 800 from Mexican criminals. The factor is 40.

    A legal US resident is FORTY TIMES as likely to be killed by a Mexican criminal than an Israeli killed by a Hamas rocket, even when the casualties of 20 days of active combat are in the mix.

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  13. Dr...

    you simply are on crack....

    To calculate the death toll from hamas at a starting point of your choosing tells much about your lack of honesty...

    Why ignore the suicide attacks both PREVENTED and those that got thru?

    Why ignore the knivings, the snipings, the kidnappings, the border bombs and such?

    WHY because your trying to make a bullshit point...

    so your point is made and it's bullshit...

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  14. I have never argued that the actions against the Indians did not happen, or were justified.

    They were part of the US policy of 'Manifest Destiny'.

    The creation of a continental empire. To the detrement of the Indians, to be sure, not so much the native Mexicans, though they were disadvantaged and displaced.

    The whole of Israel and Gaza is still smaller than Maricopa County, AZ.

    Just disarm the frontier and put French, Italian and Turkish troops in as security, maybe some Ethiopians, as well.

    There was no free flow of people or products in or out of Gaza, allowed by the Israeli, they blockaded Gaza from 2006, that was their contribution to the start of the war with Gaza.

    In my opinion, wi'o' Israel is not a 'real' country, either. Just a better administrated refugee camp than the ones in Gaza and Lebanon.

    By geographic size and UN mandate.
    Just sayin'

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  15. The Mexican criminals, in the US, have killed 40,000 legal residents, not counting the lives lost to transshipped heroin and cocaine.
    ==

    When they start shooting rockets at US cities we'll talk.

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  16. Just disarm the frontier and put French, Italian and Turkish troops in as security, maybe some Ethiopians, as well.
    ==

    I got a better plan. Make their oil weapon irrelevant and then kill them en mass. And I think my plan is much more practical.

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  17. Accepting the 40 times figure for the sake of argument, what's been proven is we ought to close our border and kick 'em out.

    I don't see how that relates to the problem in Gaza, though. The Israelis should do what they gotta do.

    One reason so few Israelis have been killed by the rockets is they have good bomb shelters and a good warning system, I'd imagine. Still, it tends to ruin the day, and the day, and the day.... having to jump into a bomb shelter when the siren goes off.

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  18. desert rat said...
    There was no free flow of people or products in or out of Gaza, allowed by the Israeli, they blockaded Gaza from 2006, that was their contribution to the start of the war with Gaza.

    Hey DR... look at a fucking map... EGYPT? EVER HEAR OF IT?

    HAMAS declared WAR on Israel...

    LEARN HISTORY...

    DR: In my opinion, wi'o' Israel is not a 'real' country, either. Just a better administrated refugee camp than the ones in Gaza and Lebanon.

    By geographic size and UN mandate.
    Just sayin'



    That says it all...

    your full of shit.....

    Just sayin....

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  19. "Benjamin Button" jumps off to early lead in Oscar Nomination list.

    He shoulda started slow, and gained strength and vitality as the process wears on.

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  20. The tactics of terrorist expansion are not the issue.

    The outcomes are.

    The outcome of US policy is that it is FORTY TIMES more likely that a legal US resident will be killed by a Mexican criminal than an Israeli by a Hamas rocket.

    The Hamas criminals are not using any other tactics that justified Cast Lead, but those rockets. According to Israeli leaders.

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  21. Hamas was nurtured by Israel, wi"o", that is it's history.

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  22. The outcome of US policy is that it is FORTY TIMES more likely that a legal US resident will be killed by a Mexican criminal than an Israeli by a Hamas rocket.
    ==

    Take it up with your "elected representative". It has nothing to do with Israel.

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  23. Take it up with your "elected representative". It has nothing to do with Israel.
    ==

    After all, you live in a real country, and not some banana republic.

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. Or maybe it's 'Manifest Destiny' that your banana republic look like Mexico.

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  26. Given the lack of casualities, bob, that the Israeli had taken over the 2 years prior to Cast Lead, 4 civilians KIA, and percieving as credible wi"o" and his ascertion that Israels' miltary objectives were achieved within minutes of the start of Cast Lead.

    It folows that the Israeli attacks on 3 UN facilities in Gaza, after their military objectives were accomplished merely bears witness to the irresposibility of the Israeli.

    That fact that they withdrew, concurrent to Obama's swearing in shows that the Israelis had gone a tad to far, and that their permission slip had been revoked, from Day One.

    But also, that the Israeli do not see Hamas as an existential threat, or they'd not have cared about Obama, but finished the 'job'.

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  27. The entire narrative was brought to the fore by ms ruby claiming that if the US was affronted by Mexico, as Israel is affronted by Hamas, the US would act.

    The US is more affronted, and does not act. That is and remains the point.

    wi"o" says the US dead are not as vital as the 4 Israelis lost to Hamas rockets. I disagree.

    He looks to motive, not outcome and then denies the reality of a greater ideological or political motivators on either the Mexican and US sides.

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  28. 3. SAF:


    #1 Paul: right on

    Warren Buffet, an age old liberal and no neo-con, has said that he expects us to be nuked in the near future. Iran will be the supplier.

    Great piece Reza Kahili.

    There will be no awakening in America until we are nuked. Still 20% of the population here thinks 911 was a Bush plot and apparently 75% of the population think Obama will talk sense into the Mullahs. The odds of an American awakening before a tragedy are 0.


    WallyWorld

    1. Paul:


    “Let this be a wake-up call to U.S. officials.”

    U. S. officials don’t ever wake up, their paychecks come in like phases of the moon, then they retire.

    We now have in charge the Volvo driving, Free Tibet stickered, America worst faction of the American psyche.

    Iranian regime? Nothing Kumbya and group hugs can’t cure.

    WalleyWorld

    One of my all time favorite movies.

    "My movies have no meaning whatsoever."

    Chevy Chase



    “Shew me,” sayd hee, “whose men you bee
    that hunt soe boldly heere,
    That without my consent doe chase
    and kill my fallow deere.”



    Chaucer's Chevy Chase


    For Witherington needs must I wayle
    as one in dolefull dumpes,
    For when his leggs were smitten of,
    he fought vpon his stumpes.


    And with Erle Dowglas there was slaine
    Sir Hugh Mountgomerye,
    And Sir Charles Morrell, that from feelde
    one foote wold neuer flee;

    Sir Roger Heuer of Harcliffe tow,
    his sisters sonne was hee;
    Sir David Lambwell, well esteemed,
    but saved he cold not bee.

    And the Lord Maxwell, in like case,
    with Douglas he did dye;
    Of twenty hundred Scottish speeres,
    scarce fifty-fiue did flye.


    Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
    went home but fifty-three;

    The rest in Cheuy Chase were slaine,
    vnder the greenwoode tree.


    O Humanity!

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  29. But also, that the Israeli do not see Hamas as an existential threat, or they'd not have cared about Obama, but finished the 'job'.
    ==

    How you come up with this sort of nonsense will have to be studied by people better than I. Anyway, Israel destroyed the rocket cache. Beyond that it cannot go, not until the jihadi oil weapon is destroyed.

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  30. Damn I can't get it the way I want it--

    here--

    From Russia With Love By A Guy Named Wally

    Wally's World

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  31. The entire narrative was brought to the fore by ms ruby claiming that if the US was affronted by Mexico, as Israel is affronted by Hamas, the US would act.
    ==

    And until that happens and they start shooting rockets at US cities you got nothing.

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  32. Both Israel and the United States should be heartily condemned for not doing enough, and there's an end to the argument.

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  33. Israel is not the US. The options available to Israel are a universe apart to those available to the US.

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  34. Or maybe the US is Mexico's oil bitch as much as she's Saudia's oil bitch.

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  35. Judge Rules 'Moment of Silence' Unconstitutional

    The usual classroom uproar is obviously much better.

    We've lost our way.

    The wife and I are going to get the materials to study up on our concealed weapons permit test from the test giver....later.

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  36. Mexico Might have some more oil that it can, or cannot, get out in the future; but, THIS YEAR exports are expected to drop from 1.4 mbpd to 1.0 mbpd.

    By the end of next year they will probably be down to around a couple of hundred thousand bpd. 2011 will, almost assuredly, mark the end of Mexico as a net oil Exporter. After that, they will be competing with us to buy oil on the international market.

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  37. Manifest Destiny did help get US to where we are, today.
    No doubt of that.

    In many respects, mat, I agree with some of your rantings.
    But the world is not going back to little CityStates scattered about the countryside. The test cases for such entities have all pretty much failed as successful societies.

    Independent CityStates promote tribal socieities that do not play well with others.

    That the elite Washingtonians are on a course to expand the American way into Mexico and encourage the blending of the societies in the great American 'melting pot' is quite evident for all to see.

    That the elites of Mexico desire them same effect, exemplified by Mr Slim. That some will use reconquista as a vehicle to move public opinion in Mexico, guaranteed.

    The narco-terrorists need an ideology to call their own, communism is dead, but Nationalism is not, especially in Mexico.

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  38. mats continually writes things such as:

    "...not until the jihadi oil weapon is destroyed."


    This is why I call you an Ideologue, a quintessential Ideologue. You start with an assumption, an axiom, and base all your subsequent arguments as emanating from that base axiom. In this case it is the axiom/assumption that "any oil use supports jihad". Virtually all of your arguments flow from this absurd assumption and are thus ludicrous.





    WiO, you continually cite "7000 rockets" as a justification for Israel's actions. I'm curious, how many rockets do you think the Israelis fired over the past couple of weeks and to what effect? Does history start with the Hamas firing of rockets? Of course not.

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  39. That is more the result of the mismanagement of Pemex, rufus, than the quantities of oil in the ground.

    You could take that to the bank.
    If one trusted the banks and their notes.

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  40. the elite Washingtonians
    ==

    They be no different than any other elite. Meet violence with violence, and stop talking this nonsense of 'Manifest Destiny'. Destiny is what you choose it to be.

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  41. 18% of the Marine Corps is now hispanic, so there will be no need for interpreters when they go back to Vera Cruz.

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  42. Does history start with the Hamas firing of rockets? Of course not.
    ==

    It started with Jihad.

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  43. Exactly, mat.

    I am no revolutionary, I'm a conservative. I wish to conserve much of the staus que. The changes that I wish to see do not include planning and zoning gaining more authority over the use of my property, real, personal or intellectual.

    The way forward to diminish use of oil is not to advocate the electric car, but the production of ethanol from non-foodstock ag products. This is now being done and as a PRACTICAL matter should be accelerated. Every drop of homegrown fuel requires US to import that much less.

    When there are a million electric cars on the hiway, as part of a functional test bed, we'll see how they REALLY perform. Like I have said, I'd lover to see new battery technologies, I'm a buyer.
    Solar, I have bought in to the application, you reject the practical limitations.

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  44. dr: percieving as credible wi"o" and his ascertion that Israels' miltary objectives were achieved within minutes of the start of Cast Lead.


    that was NOT my assertion...

    The return of Gilad Shalit, the complete arrest of all hamas leaders (and their trial for war crimes and execution) , the complete sealing off of Gaza from Israel and the return of Gaza to Egypt's control are my military objectives...

    and of course the return of the concept of deterrence

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  45. The way forward to diminish use of oil is not to advocate the electric car, but the production of ethanol from non-foodstock ag products.
    ==

    I'm open to both.

    I believe that 100% electric cars is the way to go for city commutes. Out in the country, biofuels are likely more practical.

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  46. A million electric cars, that would be less than 1/2 of 1% of the vehicle fleet in the United States.

    They have a junk-out rate of less that 4% per year. Those existings cars and SUVs will be with US for the next 20 years. Even if there was not another one built from here on out. Which is not about to happen, as even in these trying times 11.5 million cars and trucks are projected to be sold in 2009

    Which is still 3.5 million vehicles higher than the junk-out rate. The fleet continues to grow at over 1% a year.

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  47. ash..

    WiO, you continually cite "7000 rockets" as a justification for Israel's actions. I'm curious, how many rockets do you think the Israelis fired over the past couple of weeks and to what effect? Does history start with the Hamas firing of rockets? Of course not.

    Now it currently started with Israel leaving the gaza strip and giving it (and it's buildings & industry) to the gazans as part of the idea that the Arabs should have self determination, and an end to occupation of disputed lands...

    israel gave historic Jewish lands to their enemy to do what they wished...

    The gazans used this land to start a war, using suicide bombings, stabbings, shootings, ied's, murders, kidnappings and more..

    THEN CAME the 7000 rockets over 8 years....

    so THEN israel after dealing with 20-100 rocket attacks a DAY attacked with force...

    UNLIKE HAMAS the IDF targeted military targets.

    Hamas rained rockets on civilians on purpose...

    Hey ash...

    I hope someday you get the love that hamas showed on Israel for 8 years and I'd love to see the anger and fear in your eyes when you scramble at 4 am to rush to a bunker in your house...

    I 'd love to see you after 8 years and your kids after 7000 rocket attacks

    Yep your full of armchair quarter backing....

    You dont have a clue what Israelis have dealt with for the past 8 years, let alone 60....

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  48. I am no revolutionary, I'm a conservative.
    ==

    You're either a pushover, or you're not. Everything else is just rationalizations.

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  49. Oops, they exported 1.4 mbpd in 2007. 2008 is 1.0 mbpd. 09' will drop them down to the low single 100,000's. 2010 - Curtains.

    Yeah, but it's not so much Pemex's fault as it is the Government's, Rat. The Federales grab all the profits, and don't give Pemex any money for new exploration, and drilling.

    They will bring some more oil online; but it'll be too little, too late as far as exports go.

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  50. Another binary choice is required by mat.
    Sorry, amigo, there are many more options available.

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  51. Guy said they've already got ammo ID'd in Arizona, I believe he said. Lasered inside the bullet?

    Obama and the dems--nothing but trouble.

    Buy your own loader, he recommended.

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  52. WiO wrote:

    "israel gave historic Jewish lands to their enemy to do what they wished..."


    See, sitting here as a relatively neutral observer, that claim is balanced by the Pali claim that Gaza was suffering the occupation of historic Arab lands by the Jews. As you well know these claims of the land being historically 'ours' are made by both sides for all these lands going back many a year.

    There has been a long history of trying to achieve the Zionist dream which does give some credence to Palestinian claims of oppression and occupation. The current settlement structure, the wall outside the 1967 borders, settler only roads, and military check points in the West Bank also give some credence to Palestinian claims. Israeli Palestinians also have some credible claims regarding discrimination (housing rules).

    I am in no way trying to portray the Palestinians as blameless but your seem to be trying to portray all of Israel's actions as pure and just. I am also not trying to say the two sides are morally equivalent either simply that there are credible claims on both sides of the issues and that a primarily deterrent based approach by Israel will not yield long term satisfactory results.

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  53. Another voice calling forth the light.

    We shall see.
    Seems lots of folks are thinking that, on both sides or the court and in the audience.

    ...
    Consider just one crucial issue among the many now facing the nation, which would require great courage and moral leadership from our new president, if anything like meaningful "change" were to take place at all.

    This is the matter of prosecuting members of the Bush administration who committed very serious crimes, in particular those who authorized Americans to torture prisoners in blatant violation of both American and international law.

    The following facts are not in dispute. The Bush administration authorized, among many other things, the use of waterboarding against prisoners. The Obama administration takes the position - as does almost everyone else in the world - that waterboarding is torture. Obama's nominee for attorney general, Eric Holder, points out that we prosecuted our own soldiers for using waterboarding during the Vietnam War, and that there is no question that, in his words, "waterboarding is torture."

    Furthermore, the United States has signed a treaty, the Convention Against Torture, which unambiguously obligates our government to prosecute acts of torture carried out by American government officials.

    So the Obama administration is faced with a difficult moral choice: It can enforce the law, or it can do the politically expedient thing and ignore the nation's constitutionally binding treaty obligations when those obligations require something as disturbing as prosecuting American war criminals.

    Every indication is that Obama will choose the latter course.

    I have a friend, a liberal Chicago lawyer, who always gets upset when I talk about the war criminals in the Bush administration. To him, the idea that our government has committed war crimes as a matter of carefully chosen, conscious policy - as opposed to overlooking the rogue acts of a few bad apples - is almost literally inconceivable.

    I actually know a lot of people like that. They don't want to consider the possibility that we as a nation could be morally responsible for such things, so they don't.

    If Obama were the man his more zealous supporters imagine him to be, he wouldn't tolerate this kind of egregious moral blindness, let alone turn it into official government policy.

    We shall see.


    Paul Campos is a professor of law at the University of Colorado.

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  54. How many rounds do you need, bob, for your arsenal?

    Planning to have a firefight?

    With whom?

    200 rounds per weapon, more than enough for personal defense.

    That 22 caliber Super Magnum rd, developed by FN, I think it was gag that firt mentioned it, would be a great "survival caliber", but even then, how many rounds or weapons do you need?

    A hand gun, a long gun and a scatter gun, throw in a couple of 22s for small game hunting, maybe 2,000 rounds for those.

    Or are you planning for armegeddon?

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  55. Do these kinds of prosecutions require Presidential/Administration direction? Can lower level prosecutors or groups such as the ACLU (I'm guessing they could only go the civil route) prosecute said treaty obligations? I can see lower level more independent folk pursuing such a righteous quest but my take on Obama is he will choose to move forward expediently as opposed to prosecuting his political rivals. He'll choose the expedient unless the political waters get to hot thus making it not expedient to ignore those 'crimes'.

    Given all the jurisdiction issues (torture occurerd overseas) finding a venue might be tough. They seem to have managed to legislate the wiretapping issue out of existence capped off by the recent FISA court ruling. I still think that was a blatant constitutional violation and hence more easily prosecuted than overseas actions in 'theaters of war'.

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  56. All of it fits easily in the closet

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  58. Gitmo is a Naval Base far from the war.


    Another example of why yhe US will not ratify that ICC treaty, ash. There is no 'higher authority' to appeal to. My hunch is that the heat will rise and there will be a sacrifice offered. A little red meat for the grinder.

    Who that will be, remains to be seen. If it happens at all. There being no bleached blonde Spec4s to flame, I'm bettin' some General or Col. will get to fall on their sword.

    Trish disagrees, she is closer to the action and has a different perspective and perception of the story than I do.

    To me, though, it just another scene that we've all seen before. Brought to US by the folk that think the Church Committee did a good and valuable job.

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  59. I hear you on the ICC thing but my personal opinion is that the US should sign on and that the folks who authorized and enabled torture and the wiretapping should be prosecuted. I'm a law and order guy at heart.

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  60. Via Drudge:

    The Indestructible Speaker of the House?

    [...]

    Pelosi said one of her favorite moments from Inauguration Day was when Marine One lifted off the Capitol grounds, signifying former President George W. Bush's exit from Washington. "It felt like a 10-pound anvil was lifted off my head," she said.

    "There are clearly further options open to us," said one Republican operative over breakfast at the Toontown cafeteria. "A safe, for instance, or a grand piano. We've got some pretty talented folks at the Acme shop working the problem."

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  61. WiO wrote:
    "israel gave historic Jewish lands to their enemy to do what they wished..."

    ASH: See, sitting here as a relatively neutral observer, that claim is balanced by the Pali claim that Gaza was suffering the occupation of historic Arab lands by the Jews

    POINT: Israel (without giving up our historic connection to the land) GAVE the PEOPLE of GAZA the ENTIRE LAND, including JEWISH BUILT & PAID for ROAD, INFRASTRUCTURE & INDUSTRY...

    REGARDLESS of whether the squatters (the arabs) had any historic right to it or not...

    Israel GAVE it to them and say HERE take it...
    No need to discuss CLAIMS...
    Israel WITHDREW 100% from it...

    ASH: . As you well know these claims of the land being historically 'ours' are made by both sides for all these lands going back many a year.

    Not really, pre 1967 gaza was occupied by Egypt and from the end of the Ottoman empire til 1967, egypt used the strip as a forward base to terrorize Israel, deeming the 1947 borders were an injustice...

    ASH: There has been a long history of trying to achieve the Zionist dream which does give some credence to Palestinian claims of oppression and occupation.

    NONSENSE.. From the creation of the modern UN approved State of Israel (cut DOWN by 78% from the League of Nation's LEGALLY BINDING RESOLUTION) TIL 1967 the west bank and gaza had been completely ethnically cleansed of all jews... As for oppression and occupation. the arabs now occupy 649/650th of the middle east and had oppressed the Jews SINCE they INVADED in 640 ce.. Jews have lived in the MODERN middle east BEFORE the Arab hoards INVADED and stole JEWISH lands.. To keep the discussion MODERN I wont even discuss the pogroms in Hebron in 1920's to drive the jewish people from their homes that had existed for THOUSANDS of years before the 1st arab crawled out of arabia.

    Keeping it modern... in 1948 660,000 jews were expelled from their historic lands, these jews are true refugees... they settle in Israel, after their businesses & lands were stolen by the arab world...

    Remembering that the arabs were on the side of hitler during ww2 also makes it interesting that the arabs were oppressed by the jews.

    ASH: The current settlement structure, the wall outside the 1967 borders, settler only roads, and military check points in the West Bank also give some credence to Palestinian claims.

    Why should JEWS be prevented in living on unsettled lands in HISTORIC Jewish areas? Why should the entire middle east ethnically cleanse JEW from the 20 arab nations but somehow be not allowed to BUILD towns on the west bank? at the same time israel built towns, the fake nationally named people called "palestinians" have built HUNDREDS of towns and villages in the west bank... ASh are you a racist? Israel has built roads, schools & infrastructure on the west bank, should they send the bill for those ARAB only roads and such to you? and why should there not be Jewish only road to prevent murder? and what is so wrong with a security fence that stops MURDER and why should it NOT be built on the side that uses murder as a tool?

    Typically if you shoot someone driving down a road, the response is to get shot, Israel built walls in areas that the palestinians used as a shooting gallery...

    ASH: Israeli Palestinians also have some credible claims regarding discrimination (housing rules).

    There are Israeli ARABS, but what does that have to do with this? there are 800,000 arabs LIVING IN ISRAEL as full citizens.. MORE arabs LIVE in Israel today than existed in the entire area in 1948...

    let me say that again for clarity...

    more arabs live as israeli citizens than the combined arab population in the entire area in 1948...

    ashL primarily deterrent based approach by Israel will not yield long term satisfactory results.

    israel has GIVEN BANK 99.999% OF ALL DISPUTED LANDS TO THE ARABS... What have the arabs given? Israel endorsed the land for peace concept returned the sinai, left lebanon, left gaza, turned over 90% of the west bank to the palestinians to self manage, what israel now is doing is reaffirming the concept of deterrence, something long since gone...

    It aint the PRIMARY way...

    and you saying that it is shows how mis-informed you are

    ReplyDelete
  62. A person that moves unto "unsettled" lands is a squatter, at best.
    A thief at worst.

    Squat on a piece long enough, the time varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and the title to that land can transfer to the squatter, or thief. Depending upon perspective.

    There is no rule of law where vacant or "unsettled" land can be claimed by one tribe over the other, through force of arms.

    Here, there or anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  63. The Israelis did not 'give back' Gaza in 2006, while they abandoned their facilities they did not open the borders or allow free flow of commercial traffic into Gaza by sea.

    They made a tactical propaganda move, but not a strategic one. Cast Lead proved that.

    ReplyDelete
  64. nor have they "given back" the West Bank. The place is riddled with settlements, Israeli only roads, and military check points.

    WiO seems quite the propagandist with his 'It always was the land of the Jews' and 'we are a mighty nice people handing out tasty morsels of property to folk left right and center even though they try to kill us all the time'.

    ReplyDelete
  65. "WiO seems quite the propagandist..."

    Indigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

    ReplyDelete
  66. inconceivable my dear trish inconceivable...

    I'm using it to try to convey the sense that he is purposefully trying to distort the facts...misrepresenting them...misstating them...ummm even making them up.

    ReplyDelete
  67. I know. But that's not his purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Is it on purpose or a mistake?


    I'm guessing on purpose but, hey, I've been wrong before.

    ReplyDelete
  69. GREEN KILLS
    (Mat probly has doctor friends that give him a kickback on injuries from his promotion of Injurious Energy tm.)
    RWE:


    Similarly, the U.S. took in a total of 5% of all of the Africans exported as slaves. And the other 5%? We don’t talk about them.

    And compare the numbers of people injured by nuclear power plants in the U.S. with those injured by falling off of solar power arrays and wind power systems and you will discover a new definition of “dangerous.” I don’t even have to have the numbers to know what the answer will be. Falls are the no.1 cause of injury in the country.

    ReplyDelete
  70. I would imagine his response would be "to educate the fool with the truth".

    ReplyDelete
  71. "I'm guessing on purpose but, hey, I've been wrong before."
    ---
    SHAZAM!
    Are you SERIOUS?

    ReplyDelete
  72. Stephanopoulos. "You also agreed on Guantanamo, when you say you want to shut it down. You say you're still going to shut it down. Is it turning out to be harder than you expected?" What kinda questions are these? Of course it's turning out to be harder than expected because Obama has already said so! This is a softball served up. "Will you close [Club Gitmo] in the first 100 days?"

    OBAMA: It is more difficult than I think a lot of people under -- uh -- realize.

    OBAMA: And, uh, eh, we are going to get it done.


    OBAMA: But part of the challenge that you have is --

    OBAMA: -- that you've got a bunch of, folks, that have been detained.


    OBAMA: -- many of whom may be very dangerous.

    Nooooo!

    OBAMA: -- who have not, uh, been put on trial.

    RUSH: No!

    OBAMA: Uh, and have not gone through some adjudication.

    RUSH: Well.

    OBAMA: And some of the evidence against them may be tainted, even though it's true.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Without a Prompter, Mr BS Asks his Lawyer What he is doing

    The executive order says everyone in custody should be questioned under the Army Field Manual, which is intended for honorable combatants, meaning POWs in a military conflict. The rule would prevent trained interrogators at the CIA from using lawful interrogation techniques against terrorists who have been trained to withstand Army Field Manual techniques.

    "The message that we are sending the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly and we are going to do so effectively and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals," the president said.
    ---
    Obama has said he wants to end the military commissions process but does not have anything to replace it. So, sources say, the administration will seek recommendations within the next six or seven months on how to try them.
    ---

    ReplyDelete
  74. Ash said...
    nor have they "given back" the West Bank. The place is riddled with settlements, Israeli only roads, and military check points.

    WiO seems quite the propagandist with his 'It always was the land of the Jews' and 'we are a mighty nice people handing out tasty morsels of property to folk left right and center even though they try to kill us all the time'.


    Ash,

    MOST of the west bank is actually empty...

    Arabs and Jews both have villages...

    The Jews? USED to live all over the place but have been ethnically cleansed from 649/650th of it...

    Is that propaganda?

    Can you show me what arab country has any jews in it (aside from Morrocco?)

    Ash, do you not know any middle east history?

    Can you say SINAI?

    99.99% of all DISPUTED lands have been turned over to the arabs...

    the west bank is the last area that is disputed...

    and your point is that JEWS should be expelled from there as well?

    why?

    over 90% of the arabs of the west bank would NEVER even SEE an israeli unless they go out of their way to find one (that's why israel built roads connecting the jewish areas to the jewish areas, thus reducing the profile of Jews in the west bank to those who are intent on murdering jews)

    Ash I love your use of the word RIDDLED....

    So you infact dont think Jews have any rights to live in the West Bank?

    really explain yourself do only arabs have rights?

    come Ash, the bigot, explain yourself...

    Are all the Universities that Israel BUILT on the West Bank for the Arabs the same thing? Do these "riddle" the west bank? do the hospitals and ROADS that israel built for the arabs in the west bank RIDDLE it?

    come on ash, your certainly NOT neutral, your usage of the words say JUDENFREE...

    no better than No Dog, Blacks or Mexicans ALLLWED

    ReplyDelete
  75. Without a Prompter, the Acting President Asks his Lawyer What he is doing
    (this youtube only captures part of the terrifying performance, as he rattles off a bunch of meaningless gibberish)

    What would have been the reaction to Bush asking his lawyer about what he was signinng?

    The executive order says everyone in custody should be questioned under the Army Field Manual, which is intended for honorable combatants, meaning POWs in a military conflict. The rule would prevent trained interrogators at the CIA from using lawful interrogation techniques against terrorists who have been trained to withstand Army Field Manual techniques.

    "The message that we are sending the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly and we are going to do so effectively and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals," the president said.
    ---
    Obama has said he wants to end the military commissions process but does not have anything to replace it. So, sources say, the administration will seek recommendations within the next six or seven months on how to try them.

    ReplyDelete
  76. A person that moves unto "unsettled" lands is a squatter, at best.
    A thief at worst.

    Ottoman owned Vacant national lands become the State's

    Such as in America most lands are "owned" but the government....

    Areas set up for development by the Government are not squatters....

    MOST all of the LANDS developed by the private citizens of Israel were purchased for CASH by those holding deeds...

    Those who BOUGHT these lands and made them valuable are now being challenged by arabs who either were squatters or sold them at many times market at the time, only to now feel the price they screwed the jew on was not enough.

    Arabs SQUAT on most of the middle east. As does America, and most other nations... They SQUAT on conquered lands...

    Very FEW people actually have lived on lands for several thousand years (the Jews) and also have historic proof of said timeline...

    So for all of you that demand that Israel leave the west bank completely...

    What right you have to live in America?

    ReplyDelete
  77. KunstlerCast #48: From Suburbia to Peak Oil

    James Howard Kunstler tells the story of how he came to learn about peak oil while writing about suburban sprawl. Topics include The Yom Kippur War, The Hubbert's Curve, the New Urbanists and the strong relationship between suburban sprawl and diminishing supplies of cheap fossil fuel. Kunstler explains the chronology and relationship between all four of his nonfiction books. Released: January 22, 2009.

    .
    .

    http://www.kunstlercast.com/

    ReplyDelete
  78. Barry Obviously was never a Boy Scout:

    "Be Prepared" not spoken here.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Putin has the correct idea of how to deal with Jihadi shills. He really needs to be applauded for this.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Hope he's not too busy:

    "Admiral Blair declined to say if the CIA's interrogations using tougher tactics had been effective.

    "I'll have to look into that more closely," he said."

    ReplyDelete
  81. Kunstler: "the truth is that no combination of solar, wind, nuclear power, ethanol, biodiesel, tar sands and used French-fry oil will allow us to power ... the interstate highway system -- or even a fraction of these things -- in the future...our quandary: the American public's narrow focus on keeping all our cars running at any cost."

    He forgot drilling. But then it's not surprising. It doesn't fit his narrative.

    Kunstler, who has no formal training in the fields in which he prognosticates,[12] made similar dire predictions for Y2K as he makes for peak oil.[13][14][15] Kunstler responds to this criticism by saying that a Y2K catastrophe was averted by the hundreds of billions of dollars that were spent fixing the problem, a lot of it in secret, he claims.

    Kunstler has made several failed predictions regarding U.S. stock markets. In June 2005 and again in early 2006, Kunstler predicted that the Dow would crash to 4,000 by the end of the year.[17] [18] The Dow in fact reached a new peak of approximately 12,500 by the end of 2006. In his predictions for 2007, Kunstler admitted his mistake, ascribing the Dow's climb to "inertia combined with sheer luck".

    The Albany Times Union reviewed World Made by Hand, opening with, "James Howard Kunstler is fiddling his way to the apocalypse, one jig at a time."

    Kunstler appears to have at least one redeeming feature:

    Kunstler has faced virulent criticism for his pro-Israeli stance in the debate over the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

    But then, even a broken clock is right twice a day...

    [quotes from wiki]

    ReplyDelete
  82. Breaking Tradition-- Obama Blows Off Medal of Honor Recipients
    Change--
    For the first time in 56 years, since Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated, President Obama blew off the "Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball" last night at the Rennaissance hotel in the nation's capital.This Aint Hell has the details.Sad.The Obamas did make it to ten other balls during the evening.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Today's "EXPERTS"

    "Kunstler, who has no formal training in the fields in which he prognosticates,[12] made similar dire predictions for Y2K as he makes for peak oil.[13][14][15] Kunstler responds to this criticism by saying that a Y2K catastrophe was averted by the hundreds of billions of dollars that were spent fixing the problem, a lot of it in secret, he claims."

    ----
    Front Page Subhead, LA Times:

    Seasons change -- earlier than before, study says

    The "Seasoned" Expert Source of this August "Study?" see below
    ---
    "The change coincides with the rise in global temperatures, which could suggest a link to human-induced global warming, said Alexander Stine, the study's first author and a graduate student at UC Berkeley's Department of Earth & Planetary Science.

    "The pattern that we see suggests there's a relationship between global warming and the shifting of the seasons," Stine said.

    Earlier seasons could affect farming, rainfall distribution, water supplies and the diversity of ecosystems, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.


    "When you see a shift like this, or what appears to be the beginning of a shift, it's yet another red flag about the potential implications of humans fiddling with the climate," he said.

    An earlier spring could lengthen wildfire season in Western states and affect the availability of water resources, said Stephanie McAfee, a PhD student at the University of Arizona who studies the effect of climate change on ecosystems."

    Wowee, Two Grad Students say...

    ReplyDelete
  84. desert rat said...
    The Israelis did not 'give back' Gaza in 2006, while they abandoned their facilities they did not open the borders or allow free flow of commercial traffic into Gaza by sea.

    Egypt shares a border with Gaza...

    The EU monitors that were in place were chased off by mortars and bullets fired by Hamas, an organization committed to the destruction of the state of Israel.

    Hamas has kidnapped a soldier from INSIDE Israel and has attacked it..

    Hamas TOOK over the strip from the PA by murdering 100's of the PA's representatives..

    and your bitching that there is no commerical traffic?

    there are hundreds of tunnels smuggling tons and tons of products into the strip via egypt..

    in fact when it suits the gazans they storm the egyptian border and invade egypt for such important supplies as viagra, tv's ipods & mattresses...

    There never has been any shortage of food, water of fuel...

    If Hamas seeks an open border WITH ISRAEL it should not shoot rockets at her...

    If Hamas wants open borders it should return Gilad Shalit

    If Hamas wants open borders it should stop it's violent attempts of murder...

    otherwise those that seem to feel the issue is commercial crossings miss the boat...

    It's about Hamas seeking to destroy Israel...

    Why listen to them speak about it in their own words......

    Hamas seeks Israel and Jews to be killed

    ReplyDelete
  85. Seven Minutes and 50 Seconds in, Obama asks his lawyer what he is doing.
    (Lawyer is the one that sent Elian Gonzales back to Cuba under Clinton)

    ReplyDelete
  86. This is just a Nightmare, right?

    ReplyDelete
  87. Contextual clues suggest that the administration's persona on the international stage, and in the Middle East in particular, will carry both similarities and striking differences from that of the Bush Administration:

    * Israel:[...] Only the efforts of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice resulted in a last-ditch engagement, and the current war — launched in the nethertime between the inauguration and Israeli elections — has blurred the picture on whether a constructive outcome is reasonably likely. Notwithstanding the reservations of some hawkish groups, President Obama, who visited the Western Negev last summer, has consistently spoken in favor of both Israel's right to self-defense and the urgent need for a two-state solution.

    ...

    * Afghanistan:[...] This action, supported heavily by the American people at the time, was a direct and powerful response to a hit on American soil. We have every reason to believe that President Obama would respond in similar fashion.

    ...

    * Iraq: There's a clear contrast between Presidents Bush and Obama with respect to Iraq. Obama consistently opposed the war as a distraction from what he believed should be the central focus in Afghanistan.


    New Sheriff in Town

    ReplyDelete
  88. Obama Makes Exceptions to New Lobbyist Rules

    'Even the toughest rules require reasonable exceptions,' White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said."
    New York Times:
    "A senior White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity conceded that the two nominees did not adhere to the new rules required by Obama. 'When you set very tough rules you need to have a mechanism for the occasional exception,' the official said, adding, 'we wanted to be really tough, but at the same time we didn't want to hamstring the new administration or turn the town upside down.'"
    Washington Post:
    "Obama's remarks evoked criticism from the Republican National Committee, which noted that Obama has nominated William J. Lynn III, a former Raytheon lobbyist, as deputy secretary of defense. Lobbying reports filed by Raytheon with the Senate states that Lynn was part of a group that lobbied Congress and the Pentagon in 2007 and 2008."

    Limbaugh:
    So the new lobbying rules don't mean anything. All these ethics and lobbying rules don't mean anything, because Robert Gibbs -- who is doing the White House, his first ever White House briefing right now -- said, "Well, you know, tough rules require reasonable exceptions, and we didn't want to turn the town upside down. I mean, you gotta have exceptions."
    It's just like lying now and then is good for people.

    It's like we now have another historic first in this administration:
    our first tax cheat as secretary of the treasury

    ReplyDelete
  89. According to The Associated Press, in the first three months of 2008, Lynn and his lobbying team spent $1.15 million in an effort to influence buying decisions on missiles, sensors, radars and other technology and intelligence programs.

    Before joining Raytheon in 2002, Lynn was the Pentagon’s chief financial officer from 1997 to 2001. He was the Pentagon’s director of program analysis and evaluation from 1993 to 1997.

    Before that, he was a staffer for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.


    Deputy DoD

    ReplyDelete
  90. "* Afghanistan:[...] This action, supported heavily by the American people at the time, was a direct and powerful response to a hit on American soil. We have every reason to believe that President Obama would respond in similar fashion."
    ---
    ...course the whole enterprise has gone to shit in the past 7 years.
    and,
    The real problem is, the plan is more unworkable than Iraq was allowed to become.

    ReplyDelete
  91. President Barack Obama's move to close the Guantanamo prison within a year reopens the issue of how to try the accused September 11 plotters and other pending terrorism cases.

    ...

    About 80 Guantanamo prisoners, including five accused September 11 plotters, have been considered likely candidates for trial, out of 800 who have ever been held there and about 250 or so who remain.

    ...

    Obama's order stated a preference for using traditional military or civilian courts, but said the military commissions, with some possible revisions, could be an option.


    After Guantanamo

    ReplyDelete
  92. Another meeting between mom and another economist for a mutual fund. He also says things will be turning around by the end of the year. Said that there is a lot of pent up demand amongst consumers and investors, which should take hold in the last half of this year. He said the money to GMAC fixed the car sale problems, and lower mortgage rates should get new home starts turned around and going by the end of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Ash, you can trace this stuff back to the Battle of Khaybar if you wish.


    I've got about 4 boxes of 20 guage shotgun shells, number 8's, a box of 100 .22 shells, and three boxes of .38 rounds, Rat.

    Guy said they were marking ammo in Arizona, thought it was interesting, don't know if it is so. We can expect to see a lot more regulations.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Lower gas prices are helping with the car sales problems.

    ReplyDelete
  95. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Hey Moron How About Boron

    Boron and water is the 'wave' of the future. Since the source was C2
    C scepticism is in order.

    ReplyDelete
  97. "...Contextual clues suggest that the administration's persona on the international stage, and in the Middle East in particular, will carry both similarities and striking differences from that of the Bush Administration..."

    See, mat? That's how you should strive to write, for both credibility and just basic courtesy.

    Not like this:

    Blogger Mətušélaḥ said...

    You got my a big hairy johnson in your mouth? Tiz choking you? Go play with yourself biatch.

    Thu Jan 22, 09:51:00 AM EST


    I'm sure your mother would give you a scolding for the way you talk.

    ReplyDelete
  98. BEWARE OBAMA'S TROJAN HORSE

    By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

    Published on DickMorris.com on January 22, 2009

    Now that Obama is the president, fasten your seat belts. During his first year in office, and particularly during his first hundred days, we are about to witness the most prodigious output of legislation since 1981-2 (under Reagan), 1964-5 (under Johnson), and 1933-36 (under Roosevelt). The combination of top heavy Democratic majorities in Congress and a mood of public fear bordering on panic over the financial crisis and the looming depression will speed his legislation through a compliant Senate and House.

    We will enter his Administration as the United States, buoyed by an aggressive free market economy. We will exit his first year - and even the first hundred days - as France, burdened with massive government regulation, a vast public sector, and permanent middle class entitlements. And Obama will take care to arrange things so that massive and permanent political change accompanies his and protects his legislative achievements in the future.

    He will call this radical change a stimulus package. He will dress up a generation of liberal priorities as necessary steps to fight the economic crisis. His programs and policies won't do much to end the depression. It will end only after the massive burden of debt is lifted from the shoulders of American and foreign households and companies, a process which will take years. At most, his stimulus will act as methadone while we withdraw from our debt addiction, mitigating the pain, smoothing over the trauma, and soothing our system.

    But Obama's strategy is to hide inside the Trojan Horse of stimulus an army of radical measures to change America permanently.

    The most pernicious of his proposals will be the massive Make Work Pay refundable tax credit. Dressed up as a tax cut, it will be a national welfare program, guaranteeing a majority of American households an annual check to "refund" taxes they never paid. And it will eliminate the need for about 20% of American households to pay income taxes, lifting the proportion that need not do so to a majority of the voting population. Unlike the Bush stimulus checks, this new program will be a permanent entitlement, a part of our budget that can only go up and never down. Politically, it will transform a majority of Americans from taxpayers, anxious to hold down government spending, into tax eaters, eager to reap new benefits.


    The huge spending in his stimulus package will create a budget deficit topping one trillion dollars. Ronald Reagan cut taxes to raise the deficit to stop liberals in future years from increasing spending. Obama will raise spending to raise the deficit to stop conservatives in future years from cutting taxes. As he funds every liberal dream - from alternative energy production to infrastructure renovation to more federal revenue sharing - he will force a massive expansion in the size of government for a decade to come. If the proportion of our $14 trillion GDP absorbed by the public sector increases by $1 trillion dollars, it will mean that government's share will rise from its current 33% to about 40%, bringing us close to the United Kingdom's ratio. If Obama adds a major expansion of health care to the mix, the proportion could reach into the mid-forties, French and German territory.

    And Obama will likely use the Trojan Horse of stimulus to make a down payment on health care reform, expanding public coverage of those now uninsured dramatically. Likely, he will initially use the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as his vehicle. He will ask the same pool of doctors and nurses and the same amount of medical equipment to take on the care of almost 50 million more people, necessitating rationing of medical services. Those too old, too sick, or with bad habits like smoking, may find themselves fenced off from good medical care, even if they can pay for it themselves.

    While he is making these major changes, Obama will permanently alter our politics by taking three steps designed to alter the political balance:

    a) He will set illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship

    b) He'll pass the card check voting system for unionization, raising the unionized share of our economy

    c) He will crack down on talk radio through requirements either for equal time or for local ownership and control - or both.

    Most likely, Obama's inability to tame the depression will erode his popularity during his first two years in office. But, by then, his proposals will be statutes. The fiscal parameters, the middle class' expectations of no taxes and government handouts, and the demographics of our electorate will be changed forever.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Too bad Caroline doesnt live in Chicago, she'd be a shoe in.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Can the democrats find a nominee that has paid his/her taxes?

    ReplyDelete
  101. She can still become our first FEMALE tax cheat as secretary of the treasury.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Mat wants a chance to anesthetise you, LT, prior to drilling out that hairball thing.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Mongoose:
    OT (sorta)
    I canot seem to post the direct link so I will go through Malkin
    http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/22/video-no-stimulus-money-for-white-males/
    ---
    Doug:
    That’s a classic, Mongoose.The problem is how to arrive at the perfect AlGorithm to exclude workers with the needed skillsets.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Geithner sounded more like Paulson, however, when he warned that developing the proper response to the currency manipulation is no easy task.

    "The question is how and when to broach the subject in order to do more good than harm," he wrote, suggesting that entering a trade spat with China amid a global economic crisis would be inappropriate.

    Now is the time to engage China, he suggested.


    Treasury Post

    ReplyDelete
  105. Well, wi"o", if the Israeli government claims dominion over Gaza and the West Bank lands, gotta let the folk living there become Israelis and vote.

    Just like the US did in the Mexican lands the we annexxed.

    But the Israelis would rather squat on the land than extend the rights of man.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Ash, today, you sounded like a close minded bigot.

    Rat; simply a trouble maker.

    ReplyDelete
  107. ahh, whit, I mearly express a popular perception, one that has more of a whirled view than does wi"o"'s, a view that is mirrored by the management of the new America.

    Or the Israeli would not have left Gaza.

    ReplyDelete
  108. A perception that is shared by the Israeli Prime Minister.

    The comparison to South Africa will be the death of a Jewish Israel, if they do not moderate their positions.
    As Mr Olmert has stated, too.

    I figure he'd know.

    ReplyDelete
  109. You make good points and you provoke thought and tempers. You seem to like to push buttons and it's no secret that you're no friend of Israel.

    ReplyDelete
  110. wi"o tells US that the Israeli military objectives were obtained within minutes and mat tells US Cast Lead was merely a political ploy by Mr Olmert, Barak and Ms Tzipi Livni, to enhance their election prospects.

    I believe them both. Making the Israeli actions, in Gaza, the killing of hundreds of Pakistinian civilians the height of irresponsibility.
    Criminally irresponsible, in fact.

    ReplyDelete
  111. The whirled is so upside down that it is Israel that gets tarred with the apartheid label when in fact, the Muslim and Arab world is more like apartheid S.Africa. In the post Christian whirled, only Islam can get away with the virulent hate they preach and propagate regarding Jews.

    ReplyDelete
  112. The Issraelis are friends with the Chinese and any way the United States does not have friends, it has interests.

    The supporting of baby killers is not in the interests of the United States. The Israeli have lost the moral high ground.

    That is, of course, if one believes the friends of Israel and their rantings.

    ReplyDelete
  113. You should have been a lawyer, Rat.

    ReplyDelete
  114. To true, whit, the propaganda machines are in full production, on bith sides.

    But, really, I believe Mr Olmerts' perception to be pretty accurate on the apartheid issue.

    More now than three days ago, fer sur. That is the real difference in the mix. Israel had better get its' head around the Obama factor, quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  115. People are generally quick to believe that which supports their whirled view.

    ReplyDelete
  116. There's no way Israel can continue to exist if Muslims get a majority in that country. A Muslim majority in Israel is an existential threat to the Jews.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Which means, whit, they have to withdraw from the West Bank, also.
    Or extend citizenship to the residents, there.

    Neither do they wish to do.

    Then, at every turn, they attempt to derail the process that would lead to a Palistinian State, seperate from Israel.

    Which would work, tactically, with Mr Bush and was supported on the ground by the America he represented.
    Now that America has a new representitive, one that sees and supports the whirled view, clearly the Israeli will have to moderate or lose, big time.

    ReplyDelete
  118. mat has emigrated from and wi"o" does not immigrate to, Israel.

    There in is their existental threat, demographics.

    ReplyDelete
  119. I'm sorry whit if I should sound like a bigot to you for trying to point our that the Palestinians actually have some legitimate grievances. I tried to state early on that I do not believe either position to be morally equivalent either. Rat has helped elucidate one of the core dilemmas - if Israel should annex the Gaza and the West bank either they commit genocide or they risk becoming the minority. The recent history of occupation has proved untenable. In a sense they've snookered themselves and they keep tightening the noose by retaining the policy of 'deterrence' as WiO likes to phrase it.

    ReplyDelete
  120. Demographic threat...absolutely.
    Bush supported Israelis...yes, after the Palis had repeatedly demonstrated that kind of negotiating partner they were or were not. Remember, it was Arafat who queered the deal which gave him most everything he asked for except the right of return. I read a liberal Muslim website (a blog) the other night. Even there though, discussing the contradictions of the Koran were off the table. The moderator stated that the tenets of Islam are "NON NEGOTIABLE." Okay then but remember, the right of return is non negotiable also.

    Then, at every turn, they attempt to derail the process that would lead to a Palistinian State, separate from Israel. No, not at every turn. They did though put some conditions on the Palestinians such as maintaining a peace which the Palis never did. Instead, they (the Palis) sent gunmen, suicide bombers and rockets into Israel. The Jews have been very patient with the Arab proxies. Very patient. Perhaps too patient because like you say, the futures is in the demographics.

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  121. The Palistinians did all that and more, whit. At least sone if them did.

    But Israel did nuture Hamas.
    To counter Arabfat.

    Trying to manipulate the internal workings of the Palistinians, by supporting, covertly, the nost radical of the Palistinian extremists. Which led to where we at now, an Israeli proxy is making war on Israel.

    To what end and why, that is more than a rhetorical question.

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  122. Right of Return is the demographic issue, brought to a head, post haste.

    The whole of the area is so small, it should just be Internationalixed and policed by Ethiopians and Turks.
    End the war with an even larger deterence force than either tribe can match.

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  123. The recent history of occupation has proved untenable

    Apparently that has something to do with why they pulled out of Gaza. Then the death cult has to go and elect a sworn enemy of Israel, Hamas, to represent them. Hamas was so totally unprepared to govern that for a while, they had to make a pact for Fatah to govern. Then the "me and my brother against our cousin" thing kicked in and Hamas drove Fatah out of Gaza. About that time, the rocket campaign ratcheted up a few notches.

    So pardon me if I'm not sympathetic to the argument that the Palis have a few legitimate complaints. All my life I've heard nothing but obvious lies and complaints out of that treacherous bunch.

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  124. desert rat said...

    "Well, wi"o", if the Israeli government claims dominion over Gaza and the West Bank lands, gotta let the folk living there become Israelis and vote.

    Just like the US did in the Mexican lands the we annexxed.

    But the Israelis would rather squat on the land than extend the rights of man.
    "
    ---
    And does the entire Arab Middle East have to let the Jews that were expelled return and become citizens?

    ReplyDelete
  125. But Israel did nuture Hamas.
    To counter Arabfat.


    That's something new that's come up lately...I'd have to see more on that to buy into it.

    ReplyDelete
  126. Doug, don't you know that is a Zionist lie?

    ReplyDelete
  127. I'm a Dupe,
    Wish I could remember Trish's description.
    Mighta been,
    "Suck Up"

    ReplyDelete
  128. What about a right of return and reparations for the Christians and Jews who have been driven out of the West Bank in the last ten years?

    ReplyDelete
  129. And what about restitution and repayment to the settlers who paid for houses and land in the disputed territories only to later have the Arabs claim (despite the evidence) that there was no sale.

    ReplyDelete
  130. A war that derailed the peace process with the Pali Authority, caused by an old Israeli proxy, that was set up to counter the Pali Authorities authority.

    Seems to have worked.

    Under a score of Israeli casualties and now an equitable settlement is further than ever from being an accomplishment.

    That was the Israeli plan.
    To derail the PA and any chance of a negotiated settlement.

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  131. No, I don't buy that for a moment. Why would Israel evict it's own settlers at gunpoint? No, Israel was looking for a two state solution. It just couldn't find a worthy partner.

    It doesn't make sense, given the demographics, that Israel would want the chaos to continue. Even the old warrior, Ariel Sharon, saw the handwriting on the wall and determined that it had to be two states side-by-side.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Enjoyed the chat, gotta go.
    It's late in the east for this old man. Manana. Buenos Noches, amigos.

    ReplyDelete
  133. Move to Sryia, suit me if that was part of the deal. Doubt there'd be many takers. Even if offered.

    Well, the US is sending George Mitchell as the new envoy to the area.

    Newsweak has an interview with a female Palistinian, Diana Buttu, who worked with Mitchell when he studied the challenge, before, for US.


    And George Mitchell's expected appointment?

    I think the appointment of Mitchell is an especially interesting one, because he was the last person President Clinton put on the issue before he left office. That seems to say that Obama is picking up where that process left off eight years ago. I took Mitchell around when he came here for his fact-finding mission, and he was stunned by the amount of settlement activity and human-rights abuses that he saw. Everyone was satisfied with the report, but the Bush administration kind of swept it under the rug. Now, with Obama, the question becomes what he's going to do with this process he's picking up.

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  134. 55. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA):


    What I mean by “really militant” is far more than mere conquest — in particular the combination of fundamentalism, legalism, and a readiness to torture and slaughter those unwilling to convert.

    Earlier conquests generally lacked those elements. Large communities of Jews and Christians remained as productive and “tax” paying residents of muslim-controlled areas.

    Even in late-13th Century Mamluk Egypt, which then saw itself as the last bastion of Islam, the first major attempted persecution of Christians and Jews fell apart when the Mamluks realised the people they were about to slaughter not only controlled the country’s finances but also constituted the majority of scribes on which the administration depended.

    In the 14th Century each pulse of violence and persecution was better organised, more intense, and more widespread. By then the area had been “conquered” for about 700 years.

    These harsher laws and intensifying persecutions grew from the militant Quranic interpretation and puritanical fundamentalism of scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah, the intellectual godfather of Wahhabism.

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  135. Because the position in Gaza was not tenable any longer. There were not many settlers, there.

    It played well in the US, projecting an aura of accommedation.
    But not giving up much.

    While continueing the siege.

    Why shouldn't the Palistinians get to return to their homes, if the War is over?

    The assumption being the war, started in '48 never ended. When it does, that's when reparations and such are paid, all around.

    Peace becomes a 'spread the wealth' experience.

    Obama has already said, an undivided Jerusalem, capital to both Israel and Palistine.

    Then his staff extended and revised his remarks. But believe what he said, there is the new way forward, to extend the rights of man to all the people of the Levant.

    ReplyDelete
  136. OBAMA STARES DOWN POLITICO: NOT THE TIME FOR QUESTIONS

    If he had been white and gone to regular schools, he probly would have been beat up several times for being such a pompous, conceited, Asshole.

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  137. The Mitchell appointment as US envoy sends a strong message, considering he will now be in charge of implementing his own reccomendations.

    But Mitchell does have his own deep experience in the region: President Bill Clinton appointed him in October of 2000 to head a commission to investigate the causes of what would become known as the Second Intifada — the renewed wave of violence at the end of his term that blossomed during Bush’s years into a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and construction of a wall around much of the West Bank. The Mitchell Report sharply criticized both sides, demanding that the Palestinian leadership disavow terrorism, and pressing Israel to put a halt to building and expanding “settlements” on disputed land.

    “Whatever the source, violence will not solve the problems of the region. It will only make them worse. Death and destruction will not bring peace, but will deepen the hatred and harden the resolve on both sides,” said the report. “There is only one way to peace, justice, and security in the Middle East, and that is through negotiation.”

    “It’s kind of cute that the very last appointment Clinton made was Mitchell, and this would be the first appointment she makes,” said Daniel Levy, a fellow at the New America Foundation.

    The Mitchell Report’s focus on settlements comes as
    Israeli leaders are increasingly resigned to the notion that an Obama administration will push them to remove illegal settlements where Bush did not,

    but that portion of the report drew criticism from the American Jewish right as the appointment leaked out.


    The American Jewish 'right', not a bloc that either Mitchell, Clinton or Obama will be beholdin' to.

    Figurin' that wi"o" reasonably represents the Jewish rights' position on Obama, Clinton and Mitchell.

    “Danger and difficulty cannot cause the United States to turn away,” Mitchell said in his remarks today.

    “Peace and stability in the Middle East are in our national interest.”


    from the Politico

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  138. Mr. Geithner said he disagrees with projections that spending on infrastructure -- a cornerstone of Mr. Obama's strategy -- would work only slowly through the economy.

    Mr. Geithner has been under fire, especially from some Senate Republicans, for failing to pay payroll taxes on income received from the International Monetary Fund in 2001 and then repeating his error in three subsequent years. He apologized to the finance committee Wednesday, but said his mistakes were unintentional.

    Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, cast a notable vote against Mr. Geithner's nomination Thursday. Sen. Kyl called into question Mr. Geithner's forthrightness in answering the committee's questions on his personal tax situation.

    "I'm sad to say, because I very much wanted to support his nomination, that at this point I don't think the requisite candor exists to indicate my support for him with an affirmative vote," Sen. Kyl said.

    Sen. Baucus maintained that Mr. Geithner had done enough to answer questions about his taxes.

    "At a private meeting last week and again [Wednesday], Senators have had ample opportunity to ask Mr. Geithner about errors in his tax returns," Sen. Baucus said. "I believe that Mr. Geithner has taken appropriate steps to remedy what were honest mistakes."

    —Patrick Yoest contributed to this article.

    ReplyDelete
  139. Environmental guru slams carbon trading: 'Most of the green stuff is verging on gigantic scam'...

    Betcha that is why John 'Maverick' McCain supports "Cap and Trade"

    ReplyDelete
  140. Seems that there are others that see Mr Slim buying respectability with $250 million he is investing in the NYTimes. This fellow at Slate, Andres Martinez, seems to think that the NYTimes has sold its' soul to a robber baron, which is how a NYTimes editorial piece described Mr Slim, not long ago.

    Mexico’s Plutocracy Thrives on Robber-Baron Concessions

    It's like puttin' a tax cheat in charge of the IRS. Some much stuff to write about. The continued social decay brought on by the Federal Socialists, of a Washingtonian stripe.

    ReplyDelete
  141. "Federal Socialists, of a Washingtonian stripe"
    ---
    There ya go!

    ReplyDelete
  142. Man punished for
    abandoning rats


    Police say Duffany crammed 280 rats into aquariums and cages, and left them on the side of the road in Foster last month. The rats were discovered several days after they were abandoned. 72 rats had died and the rest had resorted to cannibalism.


    While in other news

    Renter claims rat
    invasion

    Apartment complex declines to comment

    David Scott

    AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) - A Southeast Austin woman said rats are crawling all over her apartment, and management is not doing enough to get rid of them.

    Lena Parrott moved into the Mission Hills Apartments in September. She said she saw her first rat a month later. Parrott said the rats have torn her furniture and raided her food and garbage.

    One Sunday in November, Parrott trapped a rat under her sink with a sticky trap supplied by the complex. When she phoned management, she said she was told they would come out Monday to dispose of the vermin, but she said they never did. Worst of all, Parrott said she can hear the rats scurrying around at night.

    "They're in the walls, they run around, they're loud," Parrott said. "My roommate's heard them squeaking in the walls. They wake me up. It's awful."

    ReplyDelete
  143. John 'Maverick' McCain supports goin along to git along, and as long as Pres Obama rides high in the polls, he says any good politician would do so.

    New Breed of 'Maverick'

    ReplyDelete
  144. Rats and Bats are sometimes less than Ideal Bedroom Mates.

    ReplyDelete
  145. I already told the tale about the bat that was nested in the large gap in the redwood roof of our old farmhouse - right above our bed.
    Doug gets out the pellet gun and plugs him.
    Unfortunately the "plug" actually opened the drain as the poor bat bled out over our heads.
    ...forget exactly what happened next.
    Probly effects of PTSD.

    ReplyDelete
  146. Environmental guru slams carbon trading: 'Most of the green stuff is verging on gigantic scam'...

    Heh.

    See that, mat?

    ReplyDelete
  147. ...forget exactly what happened next.
    Probly effects of PTSD.


    Within a couple days your mosquito population probably surged.



    "Here's how we handle them critters down around Avenal, hon...bang...drip, drip, drip...."

    I hope Sonia was impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  148. Two Sides of a Border: One Violent, One Peaceful

    El Paso is one of the safest cities in the U.S., but just across the Rio Grande violence is ripping apart Ciudad Juárez.

    ReplyDelete
  149. Bobal will chide me if I admit I wish it had been Sonia beside me.

    Passions of the flesh, and all.

    ...course Bobal said you're too old for that.

    ReplyDelete
  150. No one is ever too old for passions of the flesh.

    ReplyDelete
  151. Why didn't they ask him where the hell he was born, and to open up those schlastic records and all the other stuff people have been hammering on?

    ReplyDelete
  152. Smog's probly fried his synapses, so now he just takes napses.
    ---
    Boise Journal - Boise Region Grapples With Smog, a Growing Threat ...

    After years of growth and suburban development, the region that includes Boise and its suburbs, known as the Treasure Valley, is on the brink of violating federal clean air standards, and experts say the only real solution is one that might seem awfully un-Idahoan: persuading people to drive less.

    “We’re encouraged to ride the bus to keep pollution down and to keep costs down,” said John Hurst, 63, who has commuted to work in Boise on the Caldwell Express since the route was established four years ago.

    As the region struggles economically along with the rest of the nation, the declining quality of its air threatens to undermine central aspects of its formula for economic growth. The Treasure Valley’s sales pitch has long been that it is a quiet, clean and less restrictive place to live and do business.

    ReplyDelete
  153. My "No Traffic Signs" sign is the only "No Traffic Signs" sign I've ever seen. Few miles from my place. There are no traffic signs out that away.

    You guys ever seen a "No Traffic Signs" sign?

    ReplyDelete
  154. They were building housing units for the builders of housing units to live in while building housing units there around Boise last year. Things may have slowed down now.

    ReplyDelete
  155. Shoulda hired undocumented residents:
    They could sleep under plastic sheets.

    Bastard that puts in photovoltaics here had two illegals drywall his 6,000 sq ft house.
    Young Scandanavian guy that grew up in Phillie.
    Caint remember if he's Swedish.
    He thot Obama would be all for making PV Panels in the South with non-Union workers.
    I asked him if he knew about Obama's "Cardcheck" doing away w/secret ballots.
    He didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  156. Fast Tracking Nuclear Power

    Well, dreaming is still not illegal, last I heard.

    ReplyDelete
  157. I'm sure they had and have plenty of illegals working in construction down Boise way. Just fired up a new radio station to play hot blooded Latin music for 'em last week.

    ReplyDelete
  158. Wed night saw TV commercial done by union. They're already campaigning for Cardcheck. As if they need to.

    ReplyDelete
  159. Gotta love their name for that act--Freedom of whatever it was Act. Stick that word Freedom in there, all is well.

    Employee Free Choice Act, just looked it up.

    arbeit macht frei

    ReplyDelete
  160. Not neceassarily anti-union here, just like a secret ballot.

    ReplyDelete
  161. On the other hand, if your name and how you voted is posted, you can check and see if your vote was actually counted :(

    ReplyDelete
  162. Republican politicians are just as much to blame as the Dems for this immigration mess. Good set of articles, Doug.

    ReplyDelete
  163. Prop 202, deceptively labeled as the Stop Illegal Hiring Act and aggressively promoted by business interests, would have actually increased the hiring of illegal aliens as it dismantled Arizona's mandatory use of E-Verify.

    ---
    California's great public proposition law has been repeatedly sullied lately by dishonest labeling of Propositions and their promotion by rich bastids like Soros.

    ReplyDelete
  164. A Colorado lady called Miller with a list of all the terrorists housed in Colorado Prisons already.

    It was long and impressive.
    The one-eyed Sheik.
    Kosinsky
    The Oklahoma City Conspirator
    a bunch more Jihadi Warrior Guys...

    ReplyDelete
  165. Egyptians Training In Texas

    All a bunch of crap. That border is so short, you can't tell me the Egyptians couldn't stop the smuggling if they wanted to.

    ----

    The folks will vote right on immigration, if they know what they are voting for.

    It's back to bedtime for bobbo....

    ReplyDelete
  166. Wretchard's latest:

    Die Zeit: The CIA never really took part in the interrogations?

    Michael Scheuer: I have never heard of anything like that. The lawyers enjoined us from doing so.

    Die Zeit: Did you not have doubts concerning the use of torture in these countries?

    Michael Scheuer: No, my job was to protect American citizens by arresting members of Al-Qaida. The executive power of our government has to decide whether it considers this hypocritical or not. 90% of this operation was successful and only 10% could be considered as disastrous.

    Die Zeit: Which part was the disaster?

    Michael Scheuer: The fact that everything was made public. From now on the Europeans will diminish their assistance because they fear reading about it in the Washington Post. And then there is this troublemaker in the Senate, Senator John McCain, who virtually confessed, wrongly of course, that the CIA uses torture. And that is how the program will be destroyed.

    Die Zeit: Why did you transfer the persons to their countries of origin instead of transferring them to the USA? Could you not have imprisoned them there much more safely?

    Michael Scheuer: The crimes they had committed were always acts of violence. We did not have the slightest doubts that those people would be released by their countries. And president Clinton did not want them to be transferred to the USA.

    Die Zeit: Why not?

    Michael Scheuer: Our leaders did not wish us to treat them like prisoners of war but rather like common criminals. Additionally, they feared that they would never be able to assemble sufficient proof in order to defend the case before our law courts.

    ---
    'Rat's favorite Maverick, always keepin busy.

    ReplyDelete
  167. Ingraham contrasted Obama's humanitarian concerns for the terrorists with his extreme views wrt abortion, and his plans to revoke the Mexico City Policy.

    Free Ingraham Audio 49,000,000 unborn Americans...and counting.

    22 weeks, The Movie

    22 weeks. the movie in the making

    CNSNews.com - Obama White House Calls for Repealing Defense of Marriage Act

    Obama Officials Confirm He Will Fund Foreign Abortions

    Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Officials with the incoming administration of Barack Obama have confirmed that he will indeed overturn a pro-life policy of President Bush on his first day in office. Despite campaigning on the rhetoric of wanting to reduce abortions, Obama will make one of his first actions promoting them globally.

    Meanwhile, some 77 members of Congress have signed onto a letter asking Obama to back down from doing so.

    President Bush used an executive order on his first day in office to reinstitute a pro-life policy that prevents forcing taxpayers to fund international groups that perform or promote abortions in other countries.

    While U.S. law prohibits funding abortions directly, Bush's Mexico City Policy expands the law by also prohibiting the funding of pro-abortion groups that either do abortions overseas or lobby pro-life governments to sacrifice their abortion limits.

    During the presidential election, pro-life groups issued a clarion call to voters telling them their tax money would be used if Obama were elected and saying he would likely reverse the Mexico City Policy immediately after taking office.

    The capital publication Congressional Quarterly reports that top Washington officials tell it that the incoming president will reverse the pro-life measure on his first day as president, on Wednesday.

    When Obama overturns the limits on global abortions, he will do so over the objections of dozens of members of Congress.

    ReplyDelete
  168. The Ingraham audio also includes the Obama Classic:
    "I don't want my daughters punished with a baby!"

    Change

    Cardinal George had written to Obama saying in part:

    "The Mexico City Policy, first established in 1984, has wrongly been attacked as a restriction on foreign aid for family planning. In fact, it has not reduced such aid at all, but has ensured that family planning funds are not diverted to organizations dedicated to performing and promoting abortions instead of reducing them. Once the clear line between family planning and abortion is erased, the idea of using family planning to reduce abortions becomes meaningless, and abortion tends to replace contraception as the means for reducing family size.

    A shift toward promoting abortion in developing nations would also increase distrust of the United States in these nations, whose values and culture often reject abortion, at a time when we need their trust and respect."


    So much for a "humble" foreign policy. Cardinal George is exactly right about this where often organizations offering aid have strings attached by saying the poor need abortion most. In disaster relief often you will finds containers of condoms and abortion equipment and no basic medicine.
    This type of imperialistic "family planning" will be back in force with government funding.

    ReplyDelete
  169. al-Bob calls in from Area 51 on Late Nite:
    ---
    “In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

    The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.

    Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around even under his wings.

    Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord G-d Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:6-8).

    ReplyDelete
  170. 3. Leo Linbeck III:


    Bush fought a two front war: one front in Iraq, the other in the United States. He won the first, and lost the second.

    Now that Obama is reaping the benefits of both outcomes, I expect him to consolidate his gains before reaching for more. But this is based on very little data, since it’s not clear what he really thinks about Afghanistan, other than it was not what Bush was doing (his core strategy for winning on the second front).

    The lack of firm data with which to predict Obama’s actions reminds me of an old joke:

    What’s the difference between a scientist, an engineer, and a management consultant?

    The scientist needs three points to draw a curve, the engineer needs only two, and the management consultant can do it with one.

    ReplyDelete