EX-GI, Independent Candidate for Congress with a Plan for Iraq

The New York Times reports that:

"60 former service members are challengers for the House or the Senate as Democrats, including a half-dozen who served in Iraq. The Democrats are not shy about military résumés. Among their promotions is a “Fighting Dems” Web site bearing the subtitle, “Back from the front lines, headed to Congress.”

Polls show Ms. Duckworth and her Republican opponent, Peter J. Roskam, locked in a competitive contest. About half a dozen other races with veterans running as Democrats in places like Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia are also seen as competitive, meaning the veterans could help tip the balance of power in Congress if they do well.

Many of the other veterans running as Democrats, though, are unlikely to be headed to Congress this season, analysts say, and a few complain that the party remembers them for promotions, but forgets them when it comes to money.

The Republicans have 41 challengers with military experience making bids for the House or the Senate, two of them Iraq veterans, but the party has not publicly focused as much on that group’s service."

It is apparent that the Democrats have been finding more candidates that the Republicans. I found this Independent candidate from Southern New Jersey and took note of his plan for Iraq. It seems to be about as good as anything else I have seen, but put it to you. Is this a sensible plan that would work?

A New Strategy For Iraq,

Bob Mullock for United States Congress New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District

"Taking a state whole is superior, destroyed it is inferior. Taking an army whole is superior, destroying it is inferior'' The Art of War by Sun Tzu.


"The Art Of War'' is taught in every U.S. military academy. The "Shock and Awe" strategy of the Bush Administration is a continuing failure that violates the basic principals of war. Destroying Iraqi institutions and dismissing the Iraqi army will be studied as historic blunders.
Personally, I opposed this war in Iraq. I agreed with George Bush's father whose intelligent approach in the first lraq war cost relatively few American lives, just five billion dollars (fourteen days of this Iraq war), kept a bulwark against Iran and was supported around the world. Saddam Hussein could have been removed much like Slobodon Milocivich in the Balkans

Five Strategic Steps
First, define the enemy. Iran that attacked the U.S. territory at our embassy, imprisoned our citizens, supported the Taliban who helped foment 9/ 11 and threatens our key ally Israel with obliteration is a dangerous foe. Likewise Hezbollah and to a degree Syria are our opponents and are Shi'a Moslem based.
Why then is the U.S. trying to put the Shi'a in charge of Iraq? Already the Shi'a prime minister of Iraq has announced support for Hezbollah. Eighty five percent of Muslims around the world are Sunni including many key American allies. Should we really be spending so much effort and American lives on promoting the Shi'a?



Second, decide what is important and favorable for the U.S. Strongly support the establishment of three states in Iraq:
- A Kurdish state that is a natural ally to the U.S.
- A Sunni state that could be an ally and
- A Shi'a state that will likely ally with Iran.
Allow the militias of each state to control their own territories. Use American air power to mitigate military action between the states.

Third, nationalize under a weak Iraq central government the oil industry, key ports, airports, water resources and cities. Allocate the resources with the three states.
After the reorganization, limit the American role. We can help minimize the civil war, we cannot stop a civil war centuries in the making. Stop the training and arming of a 250,000 man Iraqi army. If each state provides its own security such a large force is not needed.
A much smaller, more tightly controlled force will be sustainable and accountable. Already major elements of the national army have been involved in death squads, torture prisons and have refused assignments outside their region. Why provide the world' s best military training by American forces to future Hezbollah volunteers?



Fourth. Stop all economic reconstruction projects until after the reorganization. Fifty percent of all development money is now being wasted on security and little is being accomplished any way. Invest only in peaceful states who ally themselves with the U.S. Encourage oil producing nearby countries to also so invest. Saudi Arabia will be a natural Sunni sponsor to a Sunni state.


Fifth. Within six months, as militarily prudent, pull U.S. troops "over the horizon" to Kuwait and Qatar and limited support bases to key areas such as in support of the Kurds, oil fields and the Green Zone. Our goal as the United States should be to encourage Iraq to progress to a democratic country.
We can provide the opportunity for peace and democracy. We just shouldn't try to force it at the end of a gun.

Mr Ahmadinejad said:"Westerners have got problems. Because their population growth is negative, they are worried..."

Is this the face of our future?

The true insidious nature of the Islamic threat to the West is often softened by the contention that Islam has been hi-jacked by "militant Islam". Those sounding the alarm are scoffed at and ridiculed as needlessly provocative. The Left dropped us into this mess with their muti-culturistic futuristic view of the world. We have a big and growing problem. It is a numbers game. It is just becoming understood because of those that have stepped aside from the politically correct nonsense of our era.

Mr Ahmadinejad certainly understands the demographic imperative. This is a struggle for destiny. He is helping us state the case. We need to face the facts as they are and not a situation that we would prefer. We will have to have our dealings with Mr Ahmadinejad. The first order of business is to determine where we need to go with Iraq. It is a needless distraction and a terrible political and military drain with no apparent up-side.

It is my contention that Iraq is as much a side show as Viet Nam was to the "Cold War", bloody and costly, but over time not terribly important in the big struggle. The big struggle is more problematic than the Cold War because it is out of the context of the Nation State, and all of our resources, experience and diplomacy is focused on the Nation State arena. Even the recent debates over trials and rights for terroristic detainees apply to Nation State conflicts.

The Iraq debacle needs to be concluded promptly, so that we can focus on the real growing threat against us. There is time to make some counter moves to ensure that the West remains the West and our legacy will not be determined by Mr Ahmadinejad and his ilk, abetted by the Denying Class who mostly lead the West.

Read what Mr. Ahmadinejad has to say. There is a small glimmer of hope in that he is receiving criticism in Iraq.



Ahmadinejad urges Iranian baby boom to challenge west

Robert Tait in Tehran
Monday October 23, 2006

Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for a baby boom to almost double the country’s population to 120 million and enable it to threaten the west.
In remarks that have drawn criticism, he told MPs he wanted to scrap existing birth control policies which discouraged Iranian couples from having more than two children.

Women should work less and devote more time to their “main mission” of raising children, Mr Ahmadinejad said.

His comments amounted to an attack on official policies - sanctioned by senior Islamic clerics - aimed at limiting Iran’s population, currently around 70 million. The government supports a range of birth control measures, including female sterilisation, vasectomies and mandatory family planning classes for newly-weds. Iran also has a state-owned condom factory.

However, Mr Ahmadinejad said: “I am against saying that two children are enough. Our country has a lot of capacity. It has the capacity for many children to grow in it. It even has the capacity for 120 million people. Westerners have got problems. Because their population growth is negative, they are worried and fear that if our population increases, we will triumph over them.”

He said he wanted to bring in legislation reducing women’s working hours based on how many children they had. Women could work part-time on full-time salaries.

Critics reacted with alarm and said the president’s call was ill-judged at a time when Iran was struggling with surging inflation and rising unemployment, unofficially estimated at around 25%.

The reformist Etemad-e Melli newspaper warned that Iran could pay a high price for such “ill-considered” comments. It wrote: “He stresses the necessity of population growth and the triumph of Iran over western governments, ignoring the fact that what leads to such triumph is not population size but knowledge, technology, wealth, welfare and security.”

Mr Ahmadinejad’s call for a higher birth rate echoes a similar demand by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the triumph of Iran’s Islamic revolution in 1979. The policy led to a population explosion but was later reversed because of the strain on the economy. As a result, population growth dropped from an all-time high of 3.2% in 1986 to around 1.2% today, similar to that of the United States.

The Guardian

'TEXAS IS MY COUNTRY, TRUTH IS MY RELIGION - AND FUCK 'EM IF THEY CAN'T TAKE A JOKE'

Kinky Friedman for Governor of Texas

The very interesting English newspaper, The Independent, has a fun article on the interesting race for Governor of Texas.

When a Jewish country music singer and political virgin entered the race to become Governor of Texas with the slogan 'How Hard Can It Be?', people thought he was joking. Eighteen months (and a slew of high-profile political scandals) later, Kinky Friedman has become a genuine contender in an election battle that has excited and delighted voters across America.

Friedman has stayed true to the opening battle cry of his campaign - "Why the hell not?" - giving the whole system a jolt of reckless possibility. The joke is on everyone: career politicians, corporate lobbyists, Christian fundamentalists, liberals, moralists and the numerous friends and foes of George Bush. Friedman, with his dry, gravelly voice and impeccable timing born of years on the stand-up comedy circuit, unfailingly skewers them all. His one-liner about the President is that he is "a good man trapped in a Republican's body"; politics in general, he says, is the only profession where the more experience you have, the worse you get.

The highlights of the article include:

• "Currently it is legal to buy a .357 Magnum at Wal-Mart, but I can't buy a techno french tickler at my local Walgreens. Where's the logic?"

• "Here's my definition of politics, 'Poly' means more than one, and 'ticks' are blood-sucking parasites."

• "A fool and his money are soon elected."
  

• "Friedman's just another word for nothing left to lose."

• "I'm not pro-life. I'm not pro-choice. I'm pro-football."

• "They ain't makin' Jews like Jesus any more."

• 'I'M NOT ANTI-DEATH PENALTY, BUT I'M SURE ANTI-THE WRONG GUY GETTING EXECUTED'

• "The two-party system is destroying the soul of this country,"

• Friedman when urged to drop out of the race and throw his support behind the Democratic Party campaign responded, "We don't negotiate with terrorists."

• When Friedman was given an ultimatum of sorts by the NAACP for making a remark using the word, 'negro": apologise for what you've said, and we will invite you to speak at our convention, he turned the offer down flat. "Tell them I don't apologise to people who try to intimidate. I don't apologise to people with an agenda. I never apologise for the truth. And the truth here is that racists come in many different colours. Texas is my country, truth is my religion - and fuck 'em, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."

• "It's the cowboy ethic that's been lost," he says. "The cowboy didn't create the Texas that people talk about now. The cowboy has never been a bully. Cowboys always stood up for the little fella."

• "I'm a Jew," he jokes, "I'll hire good people."

• But Friedman often quotes Horace Walpole: "Life is a tragedy for those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."

• His closest campaign aide is a former band-member who goes by the name of Little Jewford. ("He's a Jew, and he drives a Ford," Friedman explains.)

• Willie Nelson, the veteran country singer and alternative fuels advocate will be his energy tsar.

The Independent

When the Truth Hurts. Is the US Not Up to the Job?

For some time, we have argued on these pages that the US military is too small. The money spent is for grandiose expensive systems, when we need troops, not billion dollar bombers. We start missions that domestic politics will not support. Every decision is made by looking at the political calendar. That is happening this morning.

Is the US too divided to be a steady force in the world? The only time that changes is when we are attacked and put on defense, and then it appears to last for fifteen minutes.

The US has not won a decisive HOT war since WWII. That my friends is sixty one years ago.

There is a very sobering blunt edititorial in this mornings Telegraph. I highlight the main points and pose a very serious question. Is Niall Ferguson right? If so what do we do about it? If not,tell us why. This should make you angry.


There are 300m Americans, but still not enough to rule the world

By Niall Ferguson Telegraph

• Before the First World War, the population of Britain was 46 million, barely 2.5 per cent of humanity. And yet the British were able to govern a vast empire that encompassed an additional 375 million people, more than a fifth of the world's population. Why can't 300 million Americans control fewer than 30 million Iraqis?

• Just why is the world's third-most populous country so short of boots on the ground? The obvious answer is that, considering the size of the US population and the Pentagon's vast budget, the American military is a remarkably small outfit. In 2004, the total number of Department of Defence personnel on active duty was 1,427,000, substantially fewer than the country's 2 million-strong prison population.

• The number of troops currently in Iraq is less than 140,000. That's roughly as many soldiers as Britain sent to the same country to defeat an insurgency in 1920 — at a time when the population of Iraq was a tenth of what it is today.

• Donald Rumsfeld, we now know, who repeatedly dismissed expert advice that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to ensure the stability of post-war Iraq. It was he who insisted on downsizing the military, at the very time when there would have been safety in numbers.

• American foreign policy suffers from a similar pathology. The primacy of domestic politics, in the form of bureaucratic in-fighting and electoral manipulation, explains why the Iraq enterprise has, from the outset, been so chronically undermanned.

• The United States was unlikely to be as successful or as enduring an imperial power as its British predecessor for three reasons: its financial deficit, its attention deficit and, perhaps most surprisingly, its manpower deficit. Rather cruelly, I compared the American empire to a "strategic couch-potato… consuming on credit, reluctant to go to the front line [and] inclined to lose interest in protracted undertakings".

Ouch!

Don Imus, His Loopy Wife, Junk Science, Autism and Intimidation.

Too many Americans and too many politicians are far too impressed with celebrities. Actors are asked to testify before Congress on subjects in which they are emotionally involved, with no regard to their actual qualifications. It happens all the time and it is stupid but harmless. Unfortunately, this is not true in all cases. Don Imus and his wife are the exception to the rule. His wife Deidre Imus is particularly unqualified to pick up most of the causes of true junk science, which is her specialty, but that doesn't dissuade her because she is married to the “Joseph McCarthy” of broadcast radio. Imus, a notorious broadcast thug hides behind his microphone dressed as a cowboy in his New York, actually New Jersey, broadcast studio. He makes a living shaking people down for money for his ranch for kids with cancer, and scaring the politicians that come into his sites and ire. He packs heat, carries a hundred thousand plus in cash in his briefcase and hides behind lawyers and bodyguards and goes from limo to private jet accompanied by a retinue of sycophants. He is merciless in his diatribes and all in all a loathsome human being. He also has a very popular program, makes a lot of money, and is very, very rich.

A recent cause of the Imus family has been autism. Imus and his wife have been trying to get legislation passed that will increase funding for autism research, a worthy cause, but sullied by his methods. His favorite method is character assassination. His current target is Congressman Joe Barton of Texas. Barton has claimed the case Imus is trying to make has not been proven, so Imus has been throwing tantrums and tirades over Barton. Well, it seems that there has been some research that claims watching excessive amounts of television at an early age may be the cause. The articles are following and maybe another tantrum from the I-man will head our way.

Radio host Don Imus pressures Rep. Joe Barton over autism
By Maria Recio
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Two weeks of relentless rants against him from radio talk show host Don Imus is making Rep. Joe Barton a household name - but not in a way the Texas Republican wants.

Imus, whose "Imus in the Morning" program is heard on radio stations across much of the country and is seen weekday mornings on MSNBC, has described Barton as "a lying, fat little skunk from Texas," a "pipsqueak," a "coward and a crybaby" and "another congressional dirtbag" for holding up a bill on autism research.

Imus' emotional outbursts, as well as an orchestrated pressure campaign directed at Barton by autism research advocacy groups, stem from frustration that a Senate-passed bill didn't come up for a House of Representatives vote before Congress recessed Sept. 29.

The bill would increase and coordinate National Institutes of Health funding, set up far-ranging clinical studies and direct autism "centers of excellence" to conduct research, especially on environmental factors.

Barton said through his staff that it's possible a compromise will be reached to allow the bill to move ahead.

Autism, a neurological disorder that affects children by age 3 and impairs the development of social interaction and communication, now occurs in 1 of 166 births. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control declared that autism was at epidemic proportions.

Autism research advocates, including one organization headed by Imus' wife, Deirdre, are united behind the Combating Autism Act of 2006, which the Senate passed unanimously in August. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., authored the bill.

They hoped for quick House action on a similar bill introduced by Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif. Bono's bill has 227 co-sponsors, but before getting to the full House, it has to clear the Energy and Commerce Committee, which Barton leads.

Barton's staff members say his position is more complicated than critics portray. They say the congressman supports autism research and is sympathetic to the toll the disease takes on families. Barton was traveling and was unavailable for an interview.

According to committee spokesman Larry Neal, Barton first was committed to passing his legislation to change the NIH, the agency responsible for overseeing the nation's health research. The bill increases NIH funding by 5 percent a year and is intended to improve accountability and information sharing in the agency, among other things.

One of Barton's priorities was to create a "common fund" that the NIH could use for promising research without Congress directing the money's use for specific diseases.

Barton met with autism activists on Sept. 12 and asked them to support his NIH legislation. Autism advocates thought their bill would be next in line to clear Barton's committee.

While the NIH reform bill passed the House 412-2, the separate autism bill hit a snag - Barton didn't like the Senate bill's stipulation that the centers of excellence investigate environmental factors.

The autism bill has yet to make it to the House floor, and the activists say they feel betrayed.

But Barton and his aides say they're working to get a compromise to the floor in the lame-duck session, which begins Nov. 13.

Neal is clearly weary of the pounding and strong-arming Barton is getting from powerful players such as Bob Wright, the president of NBC/Universal who, with his wife, founded Autism Speaks.

"The answer to everyone's concerns is a reasonable compromise that will up the funding for autism research," Neal said.

"We hope and believe that one is possible, and we're working on it. Folks like Don Imus and Bob Wright apparently believe that the intimidation of a daily beating will encourage us to find a solution that leaves politicians and activists instead of scientists in charge at NIH, but that doesn't seem like a good idea."

The issue is emotional, with many activists touched by friends or family with the disorder. Wright, who has been involved in negotiations with Barton, has a grandson who is autistic.

Imus said in an interview that he and his wife weren't directly affected by autism, but that they're close to the Wrights and know others who must cope with the disorder.

"It deserves to be passed," Imus said of the bill. "The NIH has got to be made to spend the money on this."

Imus said his personal campaign on the bill "doesn't help my ratings."

"People aren't tuning in to hear me talk about autism. I can hear the radio dials clicking off every day," he said.

Asked if attacking Barton was the most effective way to get him to act, Imus said, "He's not going to be chairman after November 7, if there's a God." If Democrats win control of the House in the Nov. 7 elections, Barton would no longer be committee chairman next year.

What is autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, a spectrum disorder, that usually shows up in the first three years of a child's life. It affects the way a brain functions and changes the way a person interacts and communicates with others.

Some facts on autism:

Autism is estimated to affect roughly 1 in every 166 births.

As many as 1.5 million Americans are believed to have some form of autism, and projections show that as many as 4 million Americans could have some form of autism in the next decade.

Signs of autism include difficulty starting or maintaining a conversation; aggressive behavior; problems communicating needs; crying or laughing for no reason; repeating words or phrases rather than having a conversation; throwing tantrums; preferring to be alone; not wanting eye contact or cuddling; and having no real fear of danger.

While there is no one cause for autism, many say it's caused by abnormalities in the brain. The actual shape or structure of the brain in an autistic child can be different. Researchers are studying genetics and heredity.


Vaccination-Autism Link Unproven
Friday, April 01, 2005
By Steven Milloy
E-MAIL STORY
PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
Radio shock jock Don Imus (search) is on a rampage about the vaccine preservative thimerosal (search) allegedly causing autism (search). Fox

A closer look at the facts, however, reveals that while thimerosal is safe, Imus unfortunately appears to be suffering from a case of Charlie McCarthy Syndrome, with his eco-crusader wife as the ventriloquist.

Since the beginning of March, Imus has been ranting about thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used to prevent contamination from fungi and bacteria in countless vaccines administered to adults and children since the 1930s.

But in 1999, frenzied and junk science-fueled activists goaded wobbly-kneed pharmaceutical companies, federal public health agencies and the American Academy of Pediatrics to agree to reduce or eliminate thimerosal from vaccines as a precautionary measure.

Thimerosal was so dangerous, you see, that no one noticed it during more than 60 years of regular use -- that is, until the late-1990s, when the mercury-containing preservative was blamed by some parents for causing autism in their children

Autism: Is there a link to watching television?

Early exposure to TV implicated in new study

By The Independent Ian Griggs

Published: 22 October 2006

Autism may be linked to children watching television when very young, according to researchers.

Scientists investigating the dramatic increase in the number of autistic children have said the rise coincided with the use of cable television and videos. Autism is at record levels in the UK, where one in 110 people - more than half a million - has the condition, according to the National Autistic Society.

Researchers investigating autism in the US said that, as recently as 30 years ago, it was thought one in 2,500 people had the condition. Today the figure is one in 166, a 15-fold increase.

Scientists wanted to investigate whether the early introduction of cable television in the US had contributed to the current generation of children with autistic-spectrum symptoms. Researchers at Cornell University said children prone to autism might go on to show symptoms because of environmental triggers. Watching television could be one of them.

Michael Waldman and Sean Nicholson from Cornell University said autistic children usually develop the condition by the age of three. Their research, conducted across California, Oregon and Washington states, set out to prove the theory by linking the amount of television a child watches with the number of days when it rained.

The researchers said their study showed just under 40 per cent of autism diagnoses could be explained by looking at the times when children were forced to stay in and watch television. When rainfall was high, autism rates rose sharply. The opposite was true when rainfall was low.

They did not say how watching TV could act as a trigger, but simply tried to show a relationship. Research has shown, however, that autistic children have unusual activity in parts of the brain that process visual information. These areas develop in the early years.

The Cornell study looked at the results of an investigation into the Amish community. Based on the autism rates across the US, there should be several hundred autistic Amish, but fewer than 10 were found.

Health scares in the UK linked the combined MMR vaccine with autism but scientific studies have failed to find a connection.

Carol Povey, head of adult services for the National Autistic Society, saidit had an open mind on whether autism was rising. "The causes of autism are still being investigated," she said.

The findings are likely to upset parents of autistic children. Deborah Packenham, 42, from London, whose son Ieuan, eight, is autistic, said: "I think the idea that television is an environmental trigger for autism is difficult to grasp, dangerous even... it risks parents beating themselves up for letting their children watch Teletubbies when they were younger."

WHAT IS AUTISM?

A range of symptoms, including difficultiesforming relationships and communicating. Sufferers can be obsessed with a narrow range of interests and do or say things repetitively. Asperger syndrome shares some of the symptoms, but sufferers often have average or above-average IQs.

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is rare.

Fact: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is thought to affect about 535,000 people in the UK.

Myth: People with autism have extraordinary abilities.

Fact: Sufferers with extraordinary gifts are called autistic savants. Between 2 and 3 per cent of the UK's population have a learning disability, but only a tiny number of these have an unusually high level of specific talent.

Myth: Asperger syndrome is a middle-class sickness made up by parents to excuse bad behaviour.

Fact: Asperger syndrome is a real condition. It is often spotted at around 11-13 years of age, and its effects can be devastating.

Autism may be linked to children watching television when very young, according to researchers.

Scientists investigating the dramatic increase in the number of autistic children have said the rise coincided with the use of cable television and videos. Autism is at record levels in the UK, where one in 110 people - more than half a million - has the condition, according to the National Autistic Society.

Researchers investigating autism in the US said that, as recently as 30 years ago, it was thought one in 2,500 people had the condition. Today the figure is one in 166, a 15-fold increase.

Scientists wanted to investigate whether the early introduction of cable television in the US had contributed to the current generation of children with autistic-spectrum symptoms. Researchers at Cornell University said children prone to autism might go on to show symptoms because of environmental triggers. Watching television could be one of them.

Michael Waldman and Sean Nicholson from Cornell University said autistic children usually develop the condition by the age of three. Their research, conducted across California, Oregon and Washington states, set out to prove the theory by linking the amount of television a child watches with the number of days when it rained.

The researchers said their study showed just under 40 per cent of autism diagnoses could be explained by looking at the times when children were forced to stay in and watch television. When rainfall was high, autism rates rose sharply. The opposite was true when rainfall was low.

They did not say how watching TV could act as a trigger, but simply tried to show a relationship. Research has shown, however, that autistic children have unusual activity in parts of the brain that process visual information. These areas develop in the early years.

The Cornell study looked at the results of an investigation into the Amish community. Based on the autism rates across the US, there should be several hundred autistic Amish, but fewer than 10 were found.

Health scares in the UK linked the combined MMR vaccine with autism but scientific studies have failed to find a connection.

Carol Povey, head of adult services for the National Autistic Society, saidit had an open mind on whether autism was rising. "The causes of autism are still being investigated," she said.

The findings are likely to upset parents of autistic children. Deborah Packenham, 42, from London, whose son Ieuan, eight, is autistic, said: "I think the idea that television is an environmental trigger for autism is difficult to grasp, dangerous even... it risks parents beating themselves up for letting their children watch Teletubbies when they were younger."

WHAT IS AUTISM?

A range of symptoms, including difficultiesforming relationships and communicating. Sufferers can be obsessed with a narrow range of interests and do or say things repetitively. Asperger syndrome shares some of the symptoms, but sufferers often have average or above-average IQs.

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is rare.

Fact: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is thought to affect about 535,000 people in the UK.

Gringos in Paradise. -Desert Rat, Poet Laureate

Theme song for the Swan Island detachment.

Down to the Banana Republics, down to the tropical sun
Go the expatriated Americans, hopin' to find some fun
Some of them go for the sailing, caught by the lure of the sea
Tryin' to find what is ailing, livin' in the land of the free

Some of them are running from lovers, leaving no foreward address
Some of them are running tons of ganja
Some are running from the I.R.S.

First you learn the native customs
soon a word of spanish or two
You know that you cannot trust them
'Cause they know they can't trust you
Expatriated Americans feelin' so all alone
Telling themselves the same lies
That they told themselves back home

Down to the Banana Republics, things aren't as warm as they seem
None of the natives are buying any second-hand American dreams

Late at night you will find them
In the cheap hotels and bars
Hustling the senioritas while they dance beneath the stars
Spending those renegade pesos on a bottle of rum and a lime
Singin' give me some words I can dance to
Or a melody that rhymes

Down to the Banana Republics, down to the tropical sun
Go the expatriated Americans hopin' to find some fun

Desert Rat

Speaking of Paradise:

Panama to vote on expanded canal
BBC
The Panama Canal opened in 1914
The people of Panama are due to vote in a referendum on an ambitious plan to expand the country's famous canal and increase traffic.

Many modern container ships are too large for the 50-mile (80km) canal linking the Pacific and Atlantic.

The Panamanian government and the company that runs the canal want to build a new channel and new locks at either end to accommodate them.

The plan would double the canal's capacity, but at a cost of $3-5bn.

Supporters say the expansion will bring widespread benefits to the country, but opponents argue it will add to Panama's debt.

The Making of Islamic Radicals in Europe. It is Getting Worse.

Three related stories about the toxic mix of Islamic violence, intimidation and terror in Europe.

One year after riots, "civil war climate" in French suburbs
By Siegfried Mortkowitz

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday October 21, 2006

Paris- The "anniversary" of last year's three-week explosion of urban rioting is approaching, and France's rundown suburban ghettoes are again seething with potential violence. Joachim Masanet, secretary-general of the UNSA Police trade union, said he recently made a tour of French cities, and heard the same message everywhere: "Everyone fears that November 2006 will be the same as in 2005. The tension has not stopped mounting."

As a consequence, the National Syndicate of Police Officers (SNOP) has demanded that reinforcements be deployed in the departement of Seine-Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, because "the delinquents in certain housing estates are preparing to violently 'celebrate' (last year's) events."

So great is the fear about a renewal of violence, that Interior Nicolas Sarkozy said this week he will draw up a bill that would make it a crime - rather than a misdemeanor, as it is currently - to attack police officers, gendarmes or fire-fighters and will propose a law to treat juvenile repeat offenders as adults in court.

While the proposals are intended to polish Sarkozy's law-and-order credentials for next year's presidential elections, they also reflect the fear running through the country that it could experience another orgy of violence like last year's.

For three weeks beginning on the night of October 27, 2005, minority youths rampaged in more than 300 towns and cities throughout France, burning cars and buildings, smashing windows and clashing with police, and ultimately forcing the government to declare a state of emergency.

The current fear has been fed by a recent series of attacks on law officers in the same dilapidated pre-fab suburban housing estates that were the scenes of last year's rioting.

The damage of last year's rioting was primarily to property, with more than 10,000 cars and several hundred buildings set on fire. Miraculously, no one was killed.

However, this year's violence has been directed much more at people. According to Interior Ministry data, an average of 15 acts of violence a day have been committed this year in the French ghettoes against police officers, fire-fighters and similar Establishment figures.

A 38-year-old officer in an elite unit responsible for a northern suburb of Paris called the deteriorating situation "a civil war climate under any other name."

According to many politicians serving these neighbourhoods, a renewal of suburban rioting is possible because nothing has changed to defuse the forces that led to last year's violence.

"There is still the same precariousness, the same social desperation," said Manuel Valls, Socialist mayor of Evry, south of Paris. "We are still sitting atop a tinderbox."

Statistics bear him out. Unemployment in neighbourhoods officially classified as "fragile" remains more than twice as high - 22 per cent - than that of the nation in general. And for those 25 years of age or younger living in the suburban ghettoes, the jobless rate can run as high as 40 per cent in certain neighbourhoods.

According to Marie Ocana, jobs counselor in a Paris suburb, "Some employers say straight-out they will not hire youths from a certain neighbourhood."

Following last year's rioting, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin put forward a number of proposals to improve conditions in the affected areas, including an urban renewal programme that will affect the lives of some 4 million people by the year 2013 and cost 30 to 35 billion euros (38-44 billion dollars).

But in the short term, France's minority ghetto residents are as disadvantaged and frustrated as they were last year.

Claude Dillain, the mayor of the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where last year's rioting began, said his town's residents are growing increasingly disappointed and frustrated.

"They see that society has not changed in regard to them or the suburbs," he said. "Their disillusionment is all the greater because they were incited and encouraged a great deal this year. The next stage is rage."

Radio Netherlands does some very interesting balanced programming. You do not get that half sneering condescension that is standard fare at the BBC. This program is a discussion about Muslim radicalization in Europe. Play it while you scan the posts or just Listen here .

There is a recognizable and growing trend in Europe to deal with islam as it is, a militant dangerous cult. That may not be obvious in the press but it isa growing reality. This story will never be the lead on MSNBC, CNN or any of the majors:

Dutch Author Hiding from Islamic Extremists in Holland
October 21, 2006 03:40 PM EST
by Jim Kouri - The Conservative Voice

From 1998 until 2006, W.G. Van Dorian worked as an attorney in Criminal Law and Immigration Law in The Netherlands and Aruba. As such, Van Dorian came into close contact with terrorism and religious extremism.

After the recent murders of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn (supposedly the next president), Van Dorian decided The Netherlands was no longer a safe haven to write anything that is critical towards extremism.

He emigrated from The Netherlands to South America to publish his novel without having to fear repercussions from extremists.

Part One of a series titled The New World Order, the fictional thriller, The Invisible Invasion, describes a possible escalation in the world of (nuclear) conflict in the future with very realistic roots of religious extremism in present day Europe.

Recently, contributor Jim Kouri spoke with Van Dorian via e-mail. He remains in hiding in South America.

Jim Kouri:
The Invisible Invasion is a fiction novel. Nevertheless, events that occur in the book don't seem to be far from reality. How much is fiction and how much is already occurring?

W. G. Van Dorian:
As a defense attorney I was close to the fire. I had to defend suspected terrorists. Not just as my clients but also in daily life one noticed the aggressive behavior with which many Islamic immigrants refused to adapt to European culture and lifestyle (backed by overanxious leftist interest groups) and eventually turned against that society by renouncing anything that is different to Islamic culture, such as: fair treatment of women, tolerance, freedom of speech, human rights (except when they can appeal for discrimination, etc). The European societies backed by leftist politics let them for years and now someone who dares to criticize or even discuss Islam is a dead man. It's like this was their plan all along, thus I chose the title "the invisible invasion". Even though it's just a fiction thriller, I see these events as the beginning of the end of democracy and freedom of speech.

Kouri:
You call the 'Bad guys' "Radicals" yet all directions in the book go toward Radical Islam. Why not call them such?

Van Dorian:
Radicals come in many ways: not just religion but also Ideology. I used this example because I consider this group one of the most dangerous groups for world peace in this day and age and I was right in the middle of their thoughts and ways.

Kouri:
It's a Fiction novel but you mixed elements of the past (holocaust / Sign of David on clothes, etc) into a possible future. Why this unique mixture?

Van Dorian:
Simple. History repeats itself all the time and we see things happen all over again because people don't seem to learn from history. Jew hatred, a passive Europe that let's extremists hide behind and manipulate human rights so they can continue without people noticing it or wanting to notice it. I wanted to try to shake some people and groups awake.

Kouri:
In the book, one of the characters, Sean Gallagher, thinks human rights are a relic from the past. Isn't that your own assumption?

Van Dorian:
First of all, this is what the character thinks but if you want my opinion: People will blame the way the west has treated certain countries of the rise of extremism but I've seen differently. I think the reason why we are in this extremist mess today, in Europe at least, is because people were too nice and let extremists do their thing because people are much more afraid to be linked to fascism and discrimination, especially in Europe after WW2. Questioning, debating and, if necessary, disciplining a group's behavior is hardly fascism nor discrimination. Democracy and Human rights are nice but it shouldn't be used against a society by extremists that want to harm that same society that feeds them.
I think there's nothing wrong with severe disciplined and strong leadership and behavior by society if this preserves security.

Kouri:
You had to move to South America to publish the book without danger for your own life. How's that?

Van Dorian:
Specific groups, extremist Muslims, may see the book as a threat, even though it's just a fiction novel. Let's be honest: Muslims are very touchy about their religion. Look at what happened to the Pope, but also to Theo van Gogh who criticized Islam for it's bad treatment of women in his film "Submission" He was ritually slaughtered in the middle of broad daylight Amsterdam. That tells you something about the madness these religious people carry inside of them. I wanted to prevent some religious idiot doing the same in name of a God for a fiction novel.

I do have a message with this book: beware of Radicals, extremists, but the reason why I turned it into a fiction novel is so that a Fatwa against my person becomes even more ridiculous, after all it's fiction, right! (still). Remember: extremists are full of hatred.

China Gets Religion, Kim Jong Gets Trimmed to Size

American trade warning to China finally worked - North Korea 'sorry'' for nuke test and plans no more
Kiran Chaube
Oct. 21, 2006 India Times


China controls North Korea. America secretly warned China that the consequence of not imposing UN sanction on North Korea will be in trade restrictions on China. China understand money more than anything. They backed out. North Korea now says they are sorry for the nuke test.

According to media reports, North Korean leader Kim Jong II told a visiting Chinese delegation that the communist nation didn''t plan to conduct additional nuclear tests, a news report said on Friday.

Kim told Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan that "we have no plans for additional nuclear tests," Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in Beijing.

Tang led a delegation that met Kim in Pyongyang yesterday to deliver a message from Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Beijing today, Tang said that his trip had "not been in vain."

Chinese officials also expressed hope that the North would return to arms talks that it has boycotted since last year in anger over US financial restrictions.