Announcement: Defending Humanity

The Staff at Pushing Back the Frontiers of Ignorance would like to alert you to our newest effort:
Alerting and Defending Mankind from the Great Threat of our Time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present
When Squirrels Attack

The seriousness of this threat cannot be overstated, and we would like your help in the defence of Mankind.

Sharpton Gets it right, echo's the Cos

Story: ""We have got to get out of this gangster mentality, acting as if gangsterism and blackness are synonymous," Sharpton said Thursday at the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists.
"I think we've allowed a whole generation of young people to feel that if they're focused, they're not black enough. If they speak well and act well, they're acting white, and there's nothing more racist than that."
The key to leadership is taking the initiative to change things, said Sharpton.
...
"Nobody broke in my house in Brooklyn and dragged me out the projects and made me a leader, I wanted to do that. "

Exactly what needs to be heard. I usually don't agree with Sharpton, but this the right thing.

Now, how many of you remember Bill Cosby talking about this a few years ago?
The entire speech is a good read, but here's a sample.
"Kenneth Clark, somewhere in his home in upstate New York -- just looking ahead. Thank God he doesn’t know what’s going on. Thank God. But these people -- the ones up here in the balcony fought so hard. Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: “The cops shouldn’t have shot him.” What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand? I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else. And I looked at it and I had no money. And something called parenting said if you get caught with it you’re going to embarrass your mother." Not, "You’re going to get your butt kicked." No. "You’re going to embarrass your mother." "You’re going to embarrass your family." If you knock that girl up, you’re going to have to run away because it’s going to be too embarrassing for your family.

In the old days, a girl getting pregnant had to go down South, and then her mother would go down to get her. But the mother had the baby. I said the mother had the baby. The girl didn’t have a baby. The mother had the baby in two weeks. We are not parenting. Ladies and gentlemen, listen to these people. They are showing you what’s wrong. People putting their clothes on backwards. Isn’t that a sign of something going on wrong? Are you not paying attention? People with their hat on backwards, pants down around the crack. Isn’t that a sign of something or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn’t it a sign of something when she’s got her dress all the way up to the crack -- and got all kinds of needles and things going through her body. What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a damned thing about Africa."

Now, after Cosby's speech, what was the reaction?
"Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community" San Francisco Chronicle July 1, 2004

"Bill Cosby Remarks Divide Black Community" Black America Web, May 31, 2004 (Associated Press)

CHICAGO — Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere." Fox News, Friday, July 02, 2004 (Associated Press)

The media reaction, if any, to Sharptons remarks, which so mirror that of Cosby's, will be interesting to watch. Will a Lion of Liberalism be ignored where a Man, who can deliever a message with humor, was lambasted?

Why Wal-Mart?

The Earth Can Be Moved: "Wal-Mart is the best political issue they can come up with?"

Reuters with the scoop.
John F. Kerry, (who served in Vietnam), offers up his wisdom. ""It's unconscionable and it is unacceptable that five of the 10 richest people in America are Wal-Mart stockholders from the same family -- worth double-digit billions each -- but they can't find the money to secure health coverage for their own workers and their families"

But why is this, along with the assult yesterday by other senators, taking place in a coordnated fashion, with Wal-Mart as the target? After a little digging, I found it. Its an angry Union, taking revenge upon Wal-Mart for spurring its offers.

" The anti-Wal-Mart campaign was launched by the UFCW grocery workers union, which ended efforts to unionize the company last year and shifted to a strategy of building public pressure on it."

Once Again, labor is dictating policy to the Democrat party, much to the detrimient of their own agenda, and the good of the nation.

Democrats lash out at the vile armada

And it is not the republicans.
Courtesy the NY Times: (Sorry...)
"Democratic leaders have found a new rallying cry that many of them say could prove powerful in the midterm elections and into 2008: denouncing Wal-Mart for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits.

Six Democratic presidential contenders have appeared at rallies like the one Mr. Biden headlined, along with some Democratic candidates for Congress in some of the toughest-fought races in the country.

“My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don’t see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people,” Mr. Biden said, standing on the sweltering rooftop of the State Historical Society building here. “They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That’s true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?”

And the pearls of wisdom continue, with stunning brillance from Senator Bayh:
"“It’s not anti-business,” said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, a former head of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, appearing at an anti-Wal-Mart rally on Tuesday. “Wal-Mart has become emblematic of the anxiety around the country, and the middle-class squeeze.”"

And the fashion model of the Senate, John Edwards chimes in with:
"“Wal-Mart as an example of the problems that exist in America today is a powerful political issue,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “I think our party pretty much across the board agrees that people who work hard should be able to support their families. When a company like Wal-Mart fails to meet its corporate responsibility, it make it impossible for that to occur.”"

I'm not sure exactly what the democrats are doing here. The 3 biggest issues, in order, of this year:
1. The War on Terror, and with it, the War in Iraq
2. Illegal Immigration
3. The Economy, and closely tied to it, the energy crises.

Where Wal-Mart fits in would be the 3rd most important issue. Except that Wal-Mart is one of the greatest pistons in the economy, the 2nd largest company in the history of the world.
The number of people employed by Wal-Mart? 1,300,000 associates. Most of them are part time and young, looking to move up in the world.
An entry level job at Wal-Mart is not meant to make a livelyhood. If you want to stay in retail, you move up in the company. If you don't you go to work somewhere else. If wal-mart wasn't a good employer, there were be a catestrophic lack of workers. As it is, its hard to get a job there. Why? Because Wal-Mart takes care of its assosiates, with good pay, working conditions, and other beinefits.

If they didn't they wouldn't be in buisness. And thats the bueaty of the free market. Competiton makes everything better.

Bizzare Story, Rd. II

Ok, this is officially the weirdest story I've read in a few weeks. Yes, weirder then the Taco Bell Hot Sauce one.
So, in Saudi Arabia, which is a muslim ruled monarchy, and any deviation from the Koran is punishable, we have this. A Gay Wedding, in the southren town of Jizan.
Not only was the problem that there was a gay wedding, but that 20 men were caught acting like women, with the burkas and who knows what else.
Another in addition to all that, there was a little narcotics ring going on right before the wedding.

This is just really wierd. It would be wierd in America, and its even weirder coming out of one of the most islamic countries in the world.
Link

Isreal legal immigration rises

Story: "According to Jewish Agency estimates, 24,000 people from countries around the world will immigrate to Israel in the course of the year 2006, up from the 22,657 people who made aliyah in 2005.

In parallel, two special ISRAIR flights –from Paris and Marseille - landed in Israel on July 25 bringing 650 new immigrants from France. This is the first time in decades that such a large number of new immigrants from France have landed in one day."

During the summer months, six EL AL flights will land in Israel carrying 1,500 new immigrants from North America. By the end of the year, it is estimated that there will be a total of 3,400 new immigrants from North America (U.S.A. and Canada), up from 2,987 in 2005."

So, despite missles flying in with reckless abandon, muslim women and children walking around with bombs set to go off in a pizza parlor, and the persistant threat from Iran, people are still moving in. And running from the liberal paradise of France, no less.

Homosexual discharges rise

Story (I know its the New York Times, but this seems to be a mostly unbiased article):
"The Army, by far the largest branch of the military, discharged more gay personnel last year than the other branches with 386, the figures show, followed by the Navy with 177, the Air Force with 88 and the Marines, the smallest force, with 75.
...

Under a policy introduced by the Clinton administration known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the military cannot inquire into service members’ sex lives unless there is evidence of homosexual conduct.

Those who volunteer the information have to be discharged. More than 11,000 members have been discharged for that reason, the legal group said."

The Army knows what they're doing, and this is probably whats best best for unit cohesion. I usually don't agree with the Clintons, but this seems to be the best way to deal with the problem. Meaning, unless the individual makes themselves a problem, they stay in.

Howard Dean is afraid

Story: ""I know how hard this is for Joe, and he is a good person, but the truth is I lost one of these races and I got behind my party's nominee and I think that is what you have to do if you want to help this country," Dean, former governor of Vermont, said on NBC's "Meet the Press.""

Translation: We beat you in the primary! You can't do this to us, and run as an incumbent against us when your an independant!! Drop out now, so we can acctually win!!! Its what I did, because I was beat as a wild eyed liberal nut! (EEEEEYYYYYEAAAH!)

Why is this? Because Lieberman is winning some polls.

When government gets to big

THIS is what happens.
"For the last three summers, 13-year-old Joey Cadieux has headed outside with his flashlight on rainy nights to collect nightcrawlers from his yard.

Purchased by passing fishermen for $2.50 a dozen, the wriggling worms brought him $7 to $10 in a good month, just enough for bike trips to his favorite neighborhood pizza joint.

But when a town official recently objected to his stenciled black-and-white "nite crawlers" yard sign, Joey's business got the hook.

"It's so weird," he said. "I only make a few bucks a month if I'm lucky. I don't know why it's a big deal."

The brouhaha started in July when Al Diaz, a town Planning and Zoning Commission member, mentioned during a meeting that the sign did not conform with Cromwell's rules and should come down. A town zoning officer sent a letter last month ordering Joey's stepfather, August Reil, to take down the sign and stop selling nightcrawlers.

"I actually laughed when I opened it. I couldn't believe they were serious," Reil said.

But they are. If Joey's sign, now hidden from passing motorists, goes back up, the family could face penalties for violating town zoning rules.

"In a residential zone, if you want to put up a business and work out of your home you really need a special permit," Diaz told The Hartford Courant in a story published Friday. "You come before the commission and state your case ... and then a decision is made. Chiropractors do that, lawyers do that, doctors do that, and then you're allowed to put up a sign."

Reil could plead his case to the Zoning Board of Appeals, but would have to pay a $130 filing fee — something he refuses to do, both on cost and principle.

"I pay thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes, so why should we have to pay to appeal something we didn't even know we were doing wrong?" he asked Friday.

Cromwell First Selectman Paul Beaulieu, who has fielded dozens of complaints from residents about the issue, is among those who support Joey's right to sell worms.

"I would hope that reason would prevail, and that both lemonade stands and nightcrawler signs are seen as part of summertime traditions here in central Connecticut," Beaulieu said. "I don't consider nightcrawler sales to be a major operation. We're not talking General Motors here."

Simply insane. I don't think I need to add anything, other then be vigilant with what your local government is up to.

60 Terrorist arrested yesterday. In Iraq.

Story: "U.S. soldiers raided a funeral and detained 60 men suspected of ties to al-Qaida car bombings, the U.S. command said Saturday in announcing the first major roundup of suspected insurgents since troop reinforcements began arriving for a new crackdown in Baghdad.
...
The 60 detained men are believed associated with a senior Iraqi al-Qaida leader in a cell that "specializes in bomb making," the statement said.

"The group has been reported to be planning and conducting training for future attacks," it said. "Multiple forms of credible intelligence led the assault force to the location, later determined to be a funeral gathering, where the suspects were detained."

Women and children at the funeral were separated from the men and the arrests were made without incident, the statement said without giving any details."

60 bomb makers were arrested, and all 60 of them were at a funeral. That must have been one mighty interesting funeral. No one was hurt, and there are now 60 fewer islamic terrorist scumbags roaming the face of the earth.
And thats why we're in Iraq.

Patriots still join the Army

Story: "The U.S. Army, which fell short in recruiting last year, made its 14th straight monthly goal in July and is expected to hit its 2006 target despite the Iraq war making recruiting harder, officials said on Thursday.

"It looks very good right now," Spara said of the active-duty Army reaching its goal of 80,000 new soldiers in fiscal 2006, which ends September 30. It fell about 7,000 recruits short of the same numerical goal in fiscal 2005.

The Army provides the bulk of U.S. ground forces in Iraq. Spara said the war continues to complicate recruiting, with parents and other influential adults more likely than in the past to counsel potential recruits against volunteering.

The Army sent 10,890 recruits into boot camp in July, exceeding its biggest goal of the year of 10,450 and pushing it 4 percent above its year-to-date goal. The Army has landed 62,505 recruits through July, and needs 17,495 more in the final two months of fiscal 2006 to meet its goal."

Despite the negative press, the disgruntled generals and war mothers, the barrage of liberal tirrades against the war, we still have well nigh 11,000 young Americans going into the army, and within a few months, going to offer Freedom to the people of Iraq and Afganistan. And thats what Americans do, they support their country.

We're at war

Story: "A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.

It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.

Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for. High security is causing delays at all UK airports.The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.

Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".

Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted. Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".
He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent"."

Thats what I woke up to this morning, as did other Americans and British. But the attack was stopped, and many lives were saved.

Who was this? "The scope or the magnitude of this attack is much larger than previous attacks," said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.

He added that everything known so far points to involvement by Osama bin Laden's terror group.

"It is a classic al-Qaida tactic. It is a hallmark of al-Qaida to carry out coordinated, simultaneous attacks, and the aviation domain is certainly known to al-Qaida. They have obvious experience in working around that system and extensive knowledge of the aviation domain."

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff echoed those sentiments, saying the attack "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope." He added that: "It was in some respects suggestive of an al Qaida plot," but cautioned that the investigation was still under way.

There have been dozens of thwarted plots around the world since the Sept. 11 attacks, and several that were murderously successful. Suicide bombers killed 52 people in London on July 7, 2005, 58 in two attacks in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2003, and 202 in Bali in 2002. Islamic radicals killed 191 people in Madrid on Mar. 11, 2004, then blew themselves up days later when police were closing in."

So, it maybe al-queda, or some wannabe group. Also, look at the number of thwarted strikes in recent years.

The result of all this? Britan on highest alert, and the US is on RED alert for the first time.

And here is the best round-up I've seen.

So bizzare...

Story: " A group of 10 to 15 masked individuals entered Taco Bell, 3244 S. Western Ave., around 10:46 p.m. Tuesday to return a three-year stash of fire sauce packets, police say.

The group returned six 40-gallon trash bags filled with approximately, 25,000 sauce packets to the restaurant.

With the stash was a note stating that they had been accumulating the sauces over three years and kept them stored in the trunk of a vehicle, but felt guilty about keeping them and decided to return them to the restaurant."

See, we do live in a moral society! They returned the goods!

Democratic Primary Results

Joe Lieberman is no longer a democrat.
Story: " Sen. Joe Lieberman has conceded the U.S. Senate primary to challenger Ned Lamont but vowed to petition his way onto the November ballot as an independent."

Interestingly enough, Joe's site was down all day long, courtesy a Denial of Service attack, by who know who. Lieberman claims it was Ned Lamont, Lamont of course denies it. I think the MoveOn crowd is at fault, or one of their members.

Cynthia McKinney:
Story: "Attorney Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner, won the nomination with 59 percent of the vote, surpassing McKinney by more than 11,000 votes."

Not suprised. Most people don't approve of cop slappers.

So, one loss for the good guys, one victory, although Lieberman could win the election still.

5 Illegals die

Story: "The driver of a sport utility vehicle packed with suspected illegal immigrants flipped over while trying to elude federal agents, killing nine people and injuring 12, officials said.
Five of the injured, including a pregnant woman, were hospitalized in critical condition in Yuma and Phoenix, most with head trauma.

Five people were pronounced dead along the road Monday while four others died at Yuma Regional Medical Center, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Three men and six women died.
The Chevy Suburban was carrying 21 people — all Mexican citizens — when the driver tried to circumvent a checkpoint on the highway more than 30 miles north of Yuma, according to authorities."

How in the world do you fit 21 people into a chevy suburban? Man, they must really want to get into the US, really bad. Not only will they become criminals in a forign land to do it, they stuff themselves like sardines to enter America. And I'm glad the border patrol found this, there 21 people that won't be entering the US illegally today. While its a shame the 5 people died, they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Reuters makes it right

Story: "Reuters withdrew all 920 photographs by a freelance Lebanese photographer from its database on Monday after an urgent review of his work showed he had altered two images from the conflict between Israel and the armed group Hizbollah.

Global Picture Editor Tom Szlukovenyi called the measure precautionary but said the fact that two of the images by photographer Adnan Hajj had been manipulated undermined trust in his entire body of work.

"There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image," Szlukovenyi said in a statement.

"Reuters has zero tolerance for any doctoring of pictures and constantly reminds its photographers, both staff and freelance, of this strict and unalterable policy."

Rueters realizes they have a problem, and are doing their best to fix it. Good job, thats the way a news agency should react when they have a problem, unlike the New York Times, or dare I say it, Dan Rather and the ENTIRE CBS News organization.

Syria isn't Stupid

Tanker Brothers

This is a post by a new found blog, 2 guys who are in Iraq as tank operators.
Part of the post, which is well illustrated and very effectivly written.

"...
Syria knows attacking Israel in retaliation for hunting down and eliminating Hizbullah would lead to an immediate counter-attack by Israel. With one of the most lethal Air Forces in the world, it would make short work of the Syrian MiGs.

The Israelis already destroyed the high-speed avenues of aproach coming into Lebanon from Syria.

Syria is already on the Coalition's "Bad Guys" list, and it's no secret that a good number of the foreign fighters fueling the "insurgency" in Iraq come in through Syria. By launching an attack on Israel, Syria weakens it's 360 degree security...."

War on terror, with the Isreali Style.

Story: "The Israeli attacks on the four bridges on the main north-south coastal highway linking Beirut to Syria severed the only remaining major road link between Lebanon and Syria. The 90-minute drive to the Syrian border takes at least double the time on the small coastal road that remains open.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a staunch pro-Syrian and close ally of Hezbollah, charged that Israel is trying to pressure Lebanon to accept its conditions for a cease-fire , which include Hezbollah's disarmament and ouster from a swath of south Lebanon.

"The Israeli enemy's bombing of bridges and roads is aimed at tightening the blockade on the Lebanese, cutting communications between them and starving them," Lahoud said.

He linked the new raids to Israel's failure to win quick victory in the south, where Israeli soldiers have been mired in ground battles with Hezbollah guerrillas for several days."

Not suprised... Hezbollah fires 120 rockets, kills 2. Isreal destroys four roads, and cuts off the supply of rockets from Syria. Good day for the world.

The State of Global Warming: 1930

Story: "People sweltering from a heat wave in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. might find cold comfort in the fact that the temperatures of the past few days are not the hottest on record. That "honor" belongs to a summer 76 years ago -- decades before the controversy over "man-made global warming" began.

"From June 1 to August 31, 1930, 21 days had high temperatures that were 100 degrees or above" in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, Patrick Michaels, senior fellow for environmental studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Cybercast News Service. "That summer has never been approached, and it's not going to be approached this year."

Between July 19 and Aug. 9 of that year, heat records were set on nine days and they remain unbroken more than three-quarters of a century later. "That's hot," added Michaels, who also serves as professor of natural resources at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va.

The summer of 1930 also marked the beginning of the longest drought of the 20th century. In 1934, dry regions stretched from New York and Pennsylvania across the Great Plains to California. A "dust bowl" covered about 50 million acres in the south-central plains during the winter of 1935-1936."

Not suprised, and niether should you be. The Dust bowl, I believe it was called.

Senate sees iceberg, changes course

Story: "The Senate did an abrupt about-face yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to begin paying for 370 miles of fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, just three weeks after voting against the same spending.
The amendment's sponsor said senators were so embarrassed by that July 13 vote that most felt they had to reverse course and vote for it this time -- especially after so many were on record in May voting to build the fence in the first place. The amendment, which provides nearly $2 billion for the project, passed 94-3, with 66 senators switching from "no" to "yes" votes since last month. "

After the last time, I can only imagine the number of calls they recieved. I was pretty hopping mad about it, but they apparently changed they're mind. A lot of them.
And now 66 senators can say "I voted for the fence, before I voted against it, and then voted for it again."

Tagged...

I was tagged by Matt at The Cult of Christ. (Yes, that is my new name for it.)

1. One book that changed your life:
One thing You can't do in Heaven, By Mark Cahill

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Just one??? Fine... Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Oh. Star Wars: Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
The New International Version of the Bible.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Laugh a lot? The Far Side Gallery, any of them.

5. One book that made you cry [or feel really sad]:
Old Yeller, by I forget who.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Right now? 'Wittless' by Ann Coulter.

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Little Red Book, by Mao.

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Why the Allies Won(WWII), by Richard Ovary.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Disclosure, by Michael Chriton

10. Now tag five people:
Five? Nuts...

Earthy, Mercy Now, Redwall, Jenifer, and Carey.

Drilling for oil

Story: " The Senate cleared the way Monday for legislation that would open 8.3 million protected acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

Senators voted 72-23 to limit debate, assuring a final vote on the bill later this week before senators depart for the summer recess. The bill's supporters said they have the majority needed to push it through.

But a battle loomed with the House, which has approved a bill that would allow drilling far beyond the limited acreage in the central Gulf of Mexico. Negotiations to reconcile the two measures won't begin until September.

The House would lift a quarter-century moratorium that has kept 85 percent of the nation's coastal waters off-limits to energy companies from New England to Alaska."

This is good news. It could be better, i.e., the entire Moritorium is repealed, but we've got to start somewhere, and the Gulf of Mexico is a great place to start.
Oil independance would be a wonderful thing.

Guantanamo Bay a Haven for Abuse

Story: "

The prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay during the war on terror have attacked their military guards hundreds of times, turning broken toilet parts, utensils, radios and even a blo

ody lizard tail into makeshift weapons, Pentagon reports say.

Incident reports reviewed by The Associated Press indicate Military Police guards are routinely head-butted, spat upon and doused by "cocktails" of feces, urine, vomit and sperm collected in meal cups by the prisoners.

They've been repeatedly grabbed, punched or assaulted by prisoners who reach through the small "bean holes" used to deliver food and blankets through cell doors, the reports say. Serious assaults requiring medical attention, however, are rare, the reports indicate.

The detainee "reached under the face mask of an IRF (Initial Reaction Force) team member's helmet and scratched his face, attempting to gouge his eyes," states a May 27, 2005, report on an effort to remove a recalcitrant prisoner from his cell.

"The IRF team member received scratches to his face and eye socket area," the report said."

Good grief.. Why do we put up with these scum? Bread and water, not MREs is what they should be eating. And then take the Quaran, and other religious accompaniements away. There is no reason US soldiers should have to put up with this.

Don't mess with the USMC

Story: "Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq— and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher five-and-a-half football fields away.

Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world.
...
During a large-scale attack on Easter Sunday, Wilson says, he spotted six gunmen on a rooftop about 400 yards away. In about 8 seconds he squeezed off five rounds — hitting five gunmen in the head. The sixth man dived off a 3-story building just as Wilson got him in his sights, and counts as a probable death.

"You could tell he didn't know where it was coming from. He just wanted to get away," Wilson said. Later that day, he said, he killed another insurgent.

Wilson says his skill helps save American troops and Iraqi civilians.

"It doesn't bother me. Obviously, me being a devout Catholic, it's a conflict of interest. Then again, God supported David when he killed Goliath," Wilson said. "I believe God supports what we do and I've never killed anyone who wasn't carrying a weapon."
...
Guns have long been part of Wilson's life. His father was a sniper in the Navy SEALS. He remembers first firing a sniper rifle at age 6. By the time he enlisted he had already fired a .50-caliber machine gun.

"My father owned a weapons dealership, so I've been around exotic firearms all my life," said Wilson, who remembers practicing on pine cones and cans. "My dad would help me hold (an M-16), with the butt on his shoulder, and walk me through the steps of shooting."
...
Though Wilson firmly supports the war, he used to wonder how his actions would be received back home.

"At first you definitely double-guess telling your wife, mom, and your friends that you've killed 20 people," Wilson said. "But over time you realize that if they support you ... maybe it'll make them feel that much safer at home."

He acknowledges that brutal acts of war linger in the mind.

"Some people, before they're about to kill someone, they think that — 'Hey, I'm about to kill someone.' That thought doesn't occur to me. It may sound cold, but they're just a target. Afterward, it's real. You think, 'Hey, I just killed someone,'" says Wilson.

Insurgents "have killed good Marines I've served with. That's how I sleep at night," he says. "Though I've killed over 20 people, how many lives would those 20 people have taken?""

There's not much more to say, but thats why our guys are fighting in Iraq. To kill them there, so they don't kill us over here.

Hezbollah in Neighborhoods

Story: "The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon."

You'll have to click the link to get the pictures, but my headline wins the award from Captain Obvious of 'Duh'.
Still, its nice to have pictures.

Iran gets it right

Story: "Iran is to publicly hang five men convicted of carrying out bombings in the southwestern oil city of Ahvaz as well as a militant convicted of involvement in a massacre in the southeast.

Mohammad Ali Surai, Yahya Naseri, Nazem Barihi, Abdolemam Zaeri and Abdolzahra Helichi, were all sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in Ahvaz, the hardline Kayhan newspaper quoted a judiciary official as saying on Sunday.

The paper said the convictions and sentencing were upheld by the Supreme Court.

It did not say when the executions would be carried out, nor which specific bombings the group were linked to. Two Arab separatists have already been hanged over attacks in October 2005, although a further attack took place in January."

With the provision that these men are indeed guilty of the bombing and killing of innocent civilans, this is the best way to administer justice. No panzying around for 20 years, and then putting them to sleep, and then poisening them one at a time. No, instead you demonstrate what capital punishment really is, and hang the 6 guilty men in public.

We should do this in the US.

Hurricanes and Global Warming

Story: "Scientists linking the increased strength of hurricanes over recent years to global warming have not accounted for outdated technology that may have underestimated storms' power decades ago, researchers said in a report published Friday.

The research by Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center challenges two studies published last year by other respected climatologists.

``The methodology is fine. There's no problem with the way they analyzed the data,'' said Landsea, who is science and operations officer at the hurricane center. ``The problem is with the data itself.''

The study claims historical storm data has been rendered out-of-date by new technology that better estimates the strength of hurricanes. He pointed to advancements in the quality of satellite imagery that is used to estimate a storm's strength when it can't be directly measured by aircraft or on land.

In short, Landsea said, there were far more Category 4 and 5 storms in decades past than previously thought, because satellite imagery has improved so greatly."

And there it is. Some scientists disagree with the greatest myth of our time, Global warming and its devestating effects.

Mexico Mission

A quick summary of my recent trip to Mexico, for those of you that are interested.

The drive down took like 12 hours, and the border crossing was really easy. We got setup in a house on Sunday night, provided by a wonder family, the Cantus. I was on the work team, with my Dad, another man from the church, two ladies my age, and myself. Monday morning, we bought 20 gallons of paint, and started painting the church. We usually worked from 9 till 11:30, ate lunch, and then worked till 4. The Prince of Peace Church is about 50 feet long, 25 feet wide, and about 20 feet high. The right side has a ledge that sticks out about a foot, so we stood on that to paint the 2nd story. On the left side, there was a cinder block wall that we stood on, which was about 8 feet high. Using 12 foot rollers can get really tiring. On Thursday, we started painting the wrought iron fence and window covers, with a white oil based paint. That stuff was awful, On Thursday, the church served us tamales, and the 7 I ate were the best I've ever tasted. Friday morning, we bought a different brand of paint, and finished up around 12.

The VBS team saved around 35 kids, and the sports team around 10. The trip was very successful, and I'll probably be going back in November to help build a house.

Abortion Bill passes

"A bill that would make it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines for an abortion without her parents' knowledge passed the Senate Tuesday, but vast differences with the House version stood between the measure and President Bush's desk.

The 65-34 vote gave the Senate's approval to the bill, which would make taking a pregnant girl to another state for the purposes of evading parental notification laws punishable by fines and up to a year in jail.

The girl and her parents would be exempt from prosecution, and the bill contains an exception for abortions performed in this manner that posed a threat to the mother's life.

...

"No parent wants anyone to take their children across state lines or even across the street without their permission," said Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "This is a fundamental right, and the Congress is right to uphold it in law."

..."Congress ought to have higher priorities than turning grandparents into criminals," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass."

And who said the conservatives were loosing? This bill passed, despite the kicking and screaming of the democrats, in both houses.
This is sort of a no brainer bill as well. In the public schools, a kid can't get a pain pill with out a parents permission, but it should be ok for someone to take the kid to murduer a child? What a double standard.

Isreal vs. Hizbollah, rd. 2,456

Story: "Israeli forces battled to take over a second Hizbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon on Tuesday in intensifying ground clashes with the guerrillas' frontier garrison, sources on both sides said.

Calling Bint Jbeil "one of the major Hizbollah centers", an Israeli military spokesman said tanks and troops had sealed off the town, killed or wounded dozens of guerrillas, and were engaged in sporadic firefights with the hold-outs.

"We are operating in the town. I can't say we are in total control of the town yet," the spokesman said."

I don't care what kind of weapons Hizbollah has from Iran, there is no way they can take on the IDF head on. They may be able to take away the political support back home with civillian strikes, but the IDF is in the process of compleatly wreaking their infrastructure, command chain, and recruitment centers.

The chinese sun

Story: "BEIJING, July 24 (UPI) -- The first plasma discharge from China's experimental advanced superconducting research center -- the so-called "artificial sun" -- is set to occur next month.

The discharge, expected about Aug. 15, will be conducted at Science Island in Hefei, in east China's Anhui Province, the Peoples Daily reported Monday.

Scientists told the newspaper a successful test will mean the world's first nuclear fusion device of its kind will be ready to go into actual operation, the newspaper said."

If this works, it opens up a new realm of possibilities.
1. North Korea, Iran, Syria, Lybia, and all the african countries don't need nuclear power that has weapons grade rubbish. This sun could do it for them!
2. Forget the fight over Yucca mountain in Nevada, lets just use this.
And one more option:
Spiderman 2 anyone? Maybe this doesn't work, and China is no longer a problem in the world.

Ain't technology something!?

Lieberman and strange bedfellows

BREITBART.COM - Bill Clinton Campaigning for Lieberman: "His political career in jeopardy, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday, 'I'm in a big fight here,' and looked to Bill Clinton to help him avoid defeat in next month's Democratic primary.

'And it's an important fight,' the three-term Connecticut senator said as he struggled to turn back a surprisingly tough challenge from war critic Ned Lamont.

The former president wasn't the only nationally known Democrat campaigning for Lieberman as the lawmaker sought to rebuild support among Democrats who long supported him.

Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, an ardent critic of the war, praised Lieberman for his stand on other issues. 'If you want to meet a leader on the environment, a leader on all the difficult choice issues, you got one here,' she said at a campaign stop at a candy store.

Even then, Lieberman was looking forward to Clinton's visit.

'You know, I'm in a big fight here, and I understand that ... and as our mutual friend who's coming in later today, President Clinton, always reminds us, every campaign is about the future,' he said.

The most recent public poll rated the race a tossup with the wealthy Lamont, whose Web site boasts that he will give Connecticut, 'finally, a senator who will stand up to George Bush.'"

Bill Clinton campaigning strongly for Lieberman, and Hillary Clinton refusing to say a postive word on his behalf. Seriously, are these two even married?

Lieberman is probably the only democrat senator I would vote for, and it's because he gets the War on Terror. I hope he wins this election, and its a shame that he needs help from Bill Clinton and Barbara Boxer in his race.

Iran takes a stand

"Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared Sunday that Israel had "pushed the button of its own destruction" by launching its military campaign against the Iranian-backed Hizbullah militia in Lebanon."


Suprise, Iran wants to destroy Isreal, and 'isolate' it's allies in the west. How? I presume with bombs strapped to kids for Isreal, and Oil embargos on the US and others.

Great war going on people, and I've missed a lot of it. Its about time Isreal defended itself.

I'll be back, rd. 2

I am leaving for a missions trip to Mexico sunday morning, and will return the next sunday.

Yes, I am coming back, and I believe for the final time this summer.

And that picture isn't a sunset, its a sunrise.
Because I'll be coming back.
(MVB, if your reading this, you should come back too.)

God speed to ya'll.

Gun victory

" The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to prohibit the confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency like last year's Hurricane Katrina, marking another victory for the gun lobby.

By a vote of 84-16, the Senate embraced an amendment by Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. He attached his measure to a domestic security spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1 that the Senate is expected to pass soon."

File this vote under 'der'. The Second amendment is not to be violated. And of course, the usual crew of wimpy liberals decry the desicion, with Edward 'I wasn't drunk' Kennedy saying "pay-back time by the National Rifle Association" and Dick Turban relating this to people sniping National Gaurdsmen.

W steps up to the plate

Story:""The best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking. And therefore I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah," Bush said about the flare-up that could overshadow this weekend's meeting of world powers.

The U.S. pressed for the Group of Eight's approval of a statement identifying Hezbollah as the main culprit and emphasizing the importance of maintaining a democratic Lebanon.

Israel launched its offensive after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Israel-Lebanon border and captured two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. Since then, Israel has bombarded Lebanon's airport and main roads while Hezbollah, backed by both Syria and Iran, has launched hundreds of rockets into Israel.

Bush blamed Hezbollah's rocket attacks at Israel from its base in southern Lebanon, and the militant group's capture of the two Israeli soldiers for triggering the fierce fighting."

And thats calling it the way it is. I don't feel an ounce of sympathy for the region that declared war on Isreal, they are getting what they asked for, open war. And now that open war is upon them, I don't think they like it much.

Why is Iran on the Axis of evil? Because they support Hezbollah, and have declared that Isreal should be wiped off the map, along with well advanced nuclear ambitions.
And why is Syria on the UN security council???????????????? The abundant lack of sense in that organization is earthshattering.

Open War

"Hizbollah's chief pledged open war on Israel on Friday after it bombed his home, saying "look at it burn" when an Israeli warship that had earlier rocketed Lebanon was attacked and set ablaze.

"You wanted open war. We are going to (wage) open war," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a telephone message broadcast live on Hizbollah television after his house was hit as Israel ramped up the assault it launched after Hizbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight."

Mr. Hassan has no idea what he's got coming. Isreal by itself has the strength to take on the region. If the US enters the brawl, then we may finally root out the terror in the region.

If Syria and Iran are not careful, the war may carry over to them. Which would be a good thing.

I'll be back!

Howdy,
leaving tommarow morning for a confrence in Corpus Christi, and I'll be back Friday. Most likely will not have internet access, so the war against ignorance will be put on hold in the interm.

Have a good week!

Terrorists arrested

Story: "Authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on New York City tunnels, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

FBI agents monitoring Internet chat rooms used by extremists learned in recent months of the plot to strike a blow at the city's economy by destroying vital transportation networks, one official said. Lebanese authorities, acting on a U.S. request, have arrested one of the alleged plotters, identified as Amir Andalousli, the other official said. "

Thats the second time in a month that our intel services have been on top of these guys before they strike. Well done, FBI.
The terrorists were planning on striking the Holland subway between New York City and New Jersy, rather then the financial district.

GA Court: Gay Marriage ruling

Story: " The Georgia Supreme Court, reversing a lower court judge's ruling, decided unanimously that the [Gay marriage] ban did not violate the state's single- subject rule for ballot measures."


Bravo. Finally, another court that defers to the legislature on an issue, rather then taking an active role in creating law.
And an excellent decsion on the gay marriage issue.

NY Court: Gay Marriage ruling

Story: "New York's highest court ruled Thursday that gay marriage is not allowed under state law.

The Court of Appeals in a 4-2 decision rejected arguments from gay and lesbian plaintiffs throughout the state that their inability to get marriage licences in New York violated their constitutional rights.

Judge Robert Smith said New York's marriage law clearly limits marriage to between a man and a woman and any change in the law should come from the state Legislature."

Bravo. Finally, a court that defers to the legislature on an issue, rather then taking an active role in creating law.
And an excellent decsion on the gay marriage issue.

On Polar Bears and the Artic

We covered the start of this epic trek in a post titled 'Greenpeace is Confused', back in the end of may. 2 guys, canoeing to the north pole to look at the polar bears. We had a fascinating discussion with Jim, a guy who worked in the Attourney Generals office in the state of Washington, and claimed to have visited both poles.

The story of the two ends this way:
"Two environmentalists became the first people to reach the North Pole by canoe and on foot in summer, in an expedition aimed at drawing attention to how global warming is threatening polar bears with extinction, the explorers said in a satellite telephone interview.

When they got there on Saturday, the Pole was covered with water.

"What really surprised us was the state of the ocean," said Lonnie Dupre, 45, a carpenter from the Midwestern state of Minnesota.

"We've seen the ocean bursting up under our feet," he said. "We expected flat, condensed ice from about 86 degrees north but when we got here the ice was completely pressured and fractured everywhere."

Ok, so they made it. Bravo. And they discovered liquid water on the pole. As for their measurments, this is how they are regarded.

"Dupre and Larsen have been collecting samples of ice and snow to help scientists measure the degree to which the ice cap is retreating. Scientists are calling these measurements the Holy Grail of global warming data because no one has ever taken accurate measurements of the Arctic ice during the summer."

Am I the only one disturbed here? We call these findings disturbing, with absolutly NO baseline, or long term analysis of the area. How do we know it hasn't always been this way? Even the satilites can't help, because the region is covered in a fog most of the time.

Now, if I am wrong, please correct me. But is not fog just a low lying cloud? And a cloud is evaporated water. So wouldn't this fog come from melting water? Hmm?

Again, the use of junk science to further a political, enviromentally driven agenda is incredible.

US Flag Waving an epidemic

Story (AFP): "It's a true epidemic: the red, white and blue, stars-and-stripes banners are everywhere in the United States - on house facades, front lawns, cars and clothes.

Hitting an high point on the July 4 US Independence Day holiday, it is a genuine phenomenon of American national pride that, inevitably, gets a good but also sometimes unwanted boost from commercial exploitation.

"It's a little strange, this obsession of the flag," French author Bernard-Henri Levy wrote after traveling across the country.

"Everywhere, in every form, flapping in the wind or on stickers, an epidemic of flags that has spread throughout the city," Levy wrote in "American Vertigo" of the riot of banners he saw.

"Old Glory," as the US flag is affectionately called, can be seen in abundance through the year in the American heartland and the South, and to a lesser extent in cities like New York and Los Angeles."

Coming from a Frenchman, this may be a compliment. A man is jealous because his country has no national pride. America does, and we are proud to be Americans. Why? Because we're free.

But what really irks me about this article is the epidemic is not just refered to by the Frenchman, but it continues on in the rest of the article.

I hope ya'll had a great Independance Day, or 4th of July, depending on where you live. I did, and the flags were waving.

The State of Fear: Leadership

Many of the problems in todays world can be traced to a lack of leadership. I believe that a very large majority are caused or eviscerated by the scarcity of leadership in the world.

It starts in the home. Courtesy of the feminist movement in the 60's and 70's, many men have lost the ability to effectively lead. As the genders became muddled, women tried to emulate men, so men began to emulate women. When this happened, the family became a mess, with no solid authoritarian structure. This led to a new generation in the 90's, a generation including myself, who look at the world, and see a vacuum of leaders.

Why do we see this vacuum? Because it exists. Very few people, in America especially, have been taught to lead, and have learned that the risks of leadership do not balance well with the rewards. In the Second of the World Wars, we had great leaders of men, who lead the charge to defeat the Nazi's and the Japs. During the Cold war, we still had remenants of that leadership, and it was personified by Ronald Reagan. But by the end of the 80's, the new generation was devoid of many leaders. In the new millennium, we are still besieged by a lack of leaders, and the assault on the ones we have.

So, what does it take to make a leader? It starts in the home, and in the way one is raised. If a child is raised with responsibility, they naturally take care of themselves and others as they age. People who are raised to take responsibility and lead rise to the situatition. In the old days, people were applauded if they succeeded, and if they failed, rather then buried in the dirt, told to learn for next time. Now days, we have very close scrutiny of every move, so when a leader trips, a pack of hyenias is there to pick up the body and turn it into a corpse of a leader. When a leader succeeds, the next line is 'what have you done for me lately?'.
This, and the assault on men in leadership by the feminist movement, has caused a state of fear for leaders, and the rewards very often times are not seen to justify the risks required by those in leadership.

Gas price high, people still travel

Story: " The roads and airports will likely be pretty crowded this weekend. AAA over 40 million people will travel over the Independence Day weekend. That's a record.

AAA spokesman Mantill Williams says more than 34 million of those holiday travelers will be going by car."

Even with the price of gas real high, people still travel. Let this be a lesson to folks who want to raise taxes on gas to slow consumption and save the enviroment: IT WON'T WORK.

Hamas crys 'No mas!!'

"Israeli warplanes struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry early Friday, setting it ablaze as Arab leaders tried to forge a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and free a 19-year-old soldier held by gunmen allied with the ruling Islamic Hamas."

Proving once again that the world is ruled by force, Hamas claims it wants peace soon after Isreal decimated the interior ministry. The terms to Hamas' bargin are as of yet unknown, but I would recomend they offer up everything.
Fascinating to watch those wishing death upon Isreal flee when the time for battle comes.

In other news, this is the 500th post in What In the World is Going on?/Pushing Back the Frontiers of Ignorance history.

A new State of Fear will be coming either tomarow or saturday.

Why we fight in Iraq, rd. II

The following is a response to a post at Jenifers Musings, where a commenter stated that Iraq was an unjust war, while Afganistan was a just war. This is why we fight in Iraq, along with the reasons detailed in Why We Fight.

"Afghanistan was a training ground for al-quaeda, and they knowingly harbored and protected members of this terrorist organization. further, their human rights violations against women were innumerable."

Those are all the right reasons. Terrorists and human rights. The Taliban was a bunch of bloody tyrants, using a religion to rule by terror and force. Iraq was much the same.

1. Terrorists training:
The Weekly Standard
"THE FORMER IRAQI REGIME OF Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion, according to documents and photographs recovered by the U.S. military in postwar Iraq.
...
The secret training took place primarily at three camps--in Samarra, Ramadi, and Salman Pak--and was directed by elite Iraqi military units. Interviews by U.S. government interrogators with Iraqi regime officials and military leaders corroborate the documentary evidence. Many of the fighters were drawn from terrorist groups in northern Africa with close ties to al Qaeda, chief among them Algeria's GSPC and the Sudanese Islamic Army. Some 2,000 terrorists were trained at these Iraqi camps each year from 1999 to 2002, putting the total number at or above 8,000.

Now, I know. Here it comes: 'But they're wern't as many there before as now!'. But thats not a bad thing. They're losing to our army, not killing our civilans. Iraq was a training ground for terror before, and a deathbed of thousands now.

2. Human Rights
Saddam was a brutal tyrant who relied upon soviet and nazi style techniques to maintain control of his nation.
Amnesty International
(This is a group that is pretty danged anti-American, but mostly accurate in the world. Most of these are also corroborated from eyewitness accounts.)
BTW, this is pretty sick stuff.

"Torture victims in Iraq have been blindfolded, stripped of their clothes and suspended from their wrists for long hours. Electric shocks have been used on various parts of their bodies, including the genitals, ears, the tongue and fingers. Victims have described to Amnesty International how they have been beaten with canes, whips, hosepipe or metal rods and how they have been suspended for hours from either a rotating fan in the ceiling or from a horizontal pole often in contorted positions as electric shocks were applied repeatedly on their bodies. Some victims had been forced to watch others, including their own relatives or family members, being tortured in front of them.

Other methods of physical torture described by former victims include the use of Falaqa (beating on the soles of the feet), extinguishing of cigarettes on various parts of the body, extraction of finger nails and toenails and piercing of the hands with an electric drill. Some have been sexually abused and others have had objects, including broken bottles, forced into their anus. In addition to physical torture, detainees have been threatened with rape and subjected to mock execution. They have been placed in cells where they could hear the screams of others being tortured and have been deprived of sleep. Some have stayed in solitary confinement for long periods of time. Detainees have also been threatened with bringing in a female relative, especially the wife or the mother, and raping her in front of the detainee. Some of these threats have been carried out.
...
Salah Mahdi, a 35-year-old traffic warden in al-Mansur district in Baghdad, married with three children, was arrested together with scores of people following the attempted assassination of 'Uday Saddam Hussain, the eldest son of the President, in December 1996. He was accused of neglect because he did not notice the car the assailants used. He was held in the Special Security building and was severely tortured. He died, reportedly as a result of torture, in around June 1997. His family was told that he had died but the body was never returned to them for burial despite their repeated requests and to date his burial place reportedly remains unknown to the family.
...
Women too have been tortured, ill-treated and in some cases extrajudicially executed in Iraq. Su'ad Jihad Shams al-Din, a 61-year-old medical doctor, was arrested at her clinic in Baghdad on 29 June 1999 on suspicion that she had contacts with Shi'a Islamist groups. She was detained without charge or trial and was released on 25 July 1999. She was initially held in Baghdad Security Directorate and then was transferred to al-Ambar Security Directorate (also in Baghdad) on 5 July. Su'ad Jihad Shams al-Din was tortured frequently during interrogation by security men. Methods of torture included mostly beatings on the sole (falaqa) with a cable.

Some women have been raped in custody. They were detained and tortured because they were relatives of well known Iraqi opposition activists living abroad. The security authorities use this method to put pressure on Iraqi nationals abroad to cease their activities. For example, on 7 June 2000 Najib al-Salihi, a former army general who fled Iraq in 1995 and joined the Iraqi opposition, was sent a videotape showing the rape of a female relative. Shortly afterwards he reportedly received a telephone call from the Iraqi intelligence service, asking him whether he had received the ''gift'' and informing him that his relative was in their custody.

In October 2000 dozens of women suspected of prostitution were beheaded without any judicial process in Baghdad and other cities after they had been arrested and ill-treated. Men suspected of procurement were also beheaded. The killings were reportedly carried out in the presence of representatives of the Ba'ath Party and the Iraqi Women's General Union. Members of Feda'iyye Saddam, a militia created in 1994 by 'Uday Saddam Hussain, used swords to execute the victims in front of their homes. Some victims were reportedly killed in this manner for political reasons.
...
A woman known as ''Um Haydar'' was beheaded reportedly without charge or trial at the end of December 2000. She was 25 years' old and married with three children. Her husband was sought by the security authorities reportedly because of his involvement in Islamist armed activities against the state. He managed to flee the country. Men belonging to Feda'iyye Saddam came to the house in al-Karrada district and found his wife, children and his mother. Um Haydar was taken to the street and two men held her by the arms and a third pulled her head from behind and beheaded her in front of the residents. The beheading was also witnessed by members of the Ba'ath Party in the area. The security men took the body and the head in a plastic bag, and took away the children and the mother-in-law. The body of Um Haydar was later buried in al-Najaf. The fate of the children and the mother-in-law remains unknown."

Now, if we were justified in going into afganistan for Terrorists and Human rights violations, what is different in Iraq?

If anything, we had even more reasons to go into Iraq then Afganistan.
1. Iraqs repeated and repeated violations of the cease fire agreement.
2. Complete disregard for the dozen UN resolutions regarding the proliferation of NBC weapons.
3. Ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish folks, a massive human rights violation, that was reason in and of itself for the US to go into Bosnia in the '90s.

Isreal moves in

Story: "Israeli tanks and troops entered southern Gaza and planes attacked three bridges and knocked out electricity to the coastal strip early Wednesday, stepping up the pressure on Palestinian militants holding captive a 19-year-old Israeli soldier.

The soldiers and tanks began taking up positions in two locations about a mile east of the Gaza town of Rafah under the cover of tank shells, according to witnesses and Palestinian security officials. Palestinians dug in behind walls and sand embankments, bracing for a major Israeli offensive.

No casualties were reported in any of the attacks, marked by the first Israeli ground offensive in Gaza since it pulled out of the territory last summer, tearing down all 21 Jewish settlements."

Suprise. The cedeing of the Gaza strip has not brought peace to the region. We live in a world ruled by the aggressive use of force, and by golly, Isreal has the right idea in reconquering the gaza strip. If they would just go all the way and retake the entire palistine area, we would have a lot fewer troubles in the coming years.

This is how you deal with terrorism. Isreal gets it, Bush and the House get this, and thankfully, the British understand as well. You don't negotiate with terrorists, you just take them down before they can cause damage to your citizens.

Is it just me, or is it when Isreal puts its army on a task, niether heaven nor earth would be able to stop them? Even after years and years of fighting them, hamas still gets run over by them.

We're free, and we know it

Story: "When it comes to national pride, Americans are No. 1, according to a survey of 34 countries’ patriotism.
...
People rated how proud they were of their countries in 10 areas: political influence, social security, the way their democracy works, economic success, science and technology, sports, arts and literature, military, history, and fair treatment of all groups in society."

Yay! The spirit of the heartland still beats strong.
Who wouldn't be proud to be an american?

What is Treason?

Section 2381. Treason
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war
against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and
comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason
and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five
years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and
shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

That is treason. Benidict Arnold, Johnny Walker, and the New York Times.

Isreal prepares to humble Hamas

Story: " Israel will work to ensure the Hamas-led government falls if a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants is not released alive, a high-ranking security official said.

"We will make sure that the Hamas government ceases to operate if the kidnapped soldier is not returned to us alive," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
...
The Popular Resistance Committees, an armed Palestinian group, claimed Monday in a telephone call to AFP that it was holding the soldier, saying he was alive.

"We are holding the soldier. He is alive and in good health," said the representative of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He gave no indications as to the whereabouts or the missing soldier, 20-year-old Gilad Shavit, who was abducted during a Palestinian attack on an army border post close to the Gaza Strip on Sunday that left two Israeli soldiers and two militants dead.

The Popular Resistance Committees, together with the armed wing of the govering Hamas movement and the previously unknown Army of Islam claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

Israel has vowed to avenge any harm done to the soldier who went missing after militants tunneled into Israel and launched the brazen attack, firing grenades and rockets at an army border post near southern Gaza.

It was the largest attack in the volatile border area since Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the impoverished coastal strip last summer, ending a 38-year presence.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz vowed Sunday a strong Israeli retaliation if the missing soldier were not released unharmed. "We will take revenge against anyone who injures the soldier, including their leaders," Peretz told reporters.

...

In a joint statement, the militant groups said the dawn assault was revenge for the 22 civilians killed in an alleged Israeli shelling and botched air strikes since the start of June.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert blamed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the attack.

...
"Hamas has once again proved that it is the worst sort of terrorist organization," Gillerman told AFP in Jerusalem.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the moderate Palestinian Authority president to act swiftly to release the soldier, by force if necessary."

Isreal gave up the gaza strip last year for 'peace', and this is what the people of palistine call peace? They never should have backed down. Now, we have a 'democratically' elected Hamas as the leadership of palistine. Hamas has been an organization of terror for decades! But no, they have separated the militant wing of the party from the ruling part.
Just like the Soviets separated the Sword and the Sheild of the Party from the rulers.
It just doesn't work that way.

Let hamas and the palistine region have it. Raze the area, and rebuild something that produces something besides political shennanigans, death and mayhem.

BUSH ROCKS THE NATION: PRIVATE PROPERTY IS BACK

White House: (Hat tip to the Drudge Report)"It is the policy of the United States to protect the rights of Americans to their private property, including by limiting the taking of private property by the Federal Government to situations in which the taking is for public use, with just compensation, and for the purpose of benefiting the general public and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties to be given ownership or use of the property taken."

Translation:
President Bush just signed an executive order reinstating the old school eminent domain, where property can't be taken to build a condo, where a beachfront property isn't a new place for a casino, and where a farm can't be taken to build a new resort.

Quite frankly, this is the best news I've heard in months, even better then Zarqawi's death.

Politically, this is a stroke of genius. Do it on a friday evening, after both the Partisen Press, the Liberal Media, and the Conservative talk shows are finished, and everyone takes off for the weekend. Then, over the weekend, and huge head of steam builds up heading into the next week, ready to rock the political landscape. If the public is properly informed of this, then Bush's ratings should fly. He should hold a press confrence on this, rather then letting Tony Snow, as good as he is, have to handle the wolves of the press.

America looks a lot brighter now.

It's a hit!

Story: "A US warship successfully shot down a target missile warhead over the Pacific in a test of a sea-based missile defense system, the US military said.
A Japanese destroyer performed surveillance and tracking exercises during the test, marking the first time any US ally has taken part in a US missile defense intercept test, the US Missile Defense Agency said.
...
The sea-based system tested off Hawaii is designed to counter only short or medium range missiles, but the cruisers and destroyers that took part are capable of tracking long-range missiles as well.
The mock warhead was launched over the Pacific atop a medium range missile and destroyed in a direct hit six minutes later with an SM-3 missile fired by the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh, the agency said.
The missile successfully intercepted the target warhead outside the earths atmosphere more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai," the agency said in a statement.
We are continuing to see great success with the very challenging technology of hit-to-kill, a technology that is used for all of our missile defense ground- and sea-based interceptor missiles," Lieutenant General Trey Obering, the agency chief, said in the statement.

Sitting in the middle of the ocean, tracking and hitting a missle screaming past at hundreds of miles per hour... That is what the US Navy does. Extreamly impressive.

And perhaps thats why we get this story:
"for most, a missile was too distant, too unlikely a threat to interrupt their daily lives.

"A better question is when's the next earthquake," Ernie De Matteis said as he flipped through a newspaper in San Francisco."

Americans either trust the US military, or they compleatly don't know what North Korea has and may do. I think its likely the trust of the most powerful military in the worlds history.

And another reason to have invaded

"The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.

"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon.

Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, Santorum said: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist.""

So the WMD's did exist, just like the Administration said. But why in tarnation does it take a US senator to say all this, rather then the administration defending itself? Its just stupid! This is the kind of story that sticks a knife in the democrat propaganda campaign!
Just glad that Saddam didn't use'em on our troops on the way in. That would have been terrible.

Secret agent ring tone

Story: "A high-pitched sound developed in Britain to deter teen loitering and inaudible to most adults has invaded US classrooms where youngsters are using it in their cell phones to communicate without their teacher's knowledge.

The ring-tone, know as "Teen Buzz," allows students to surreptitiously exchange text messages unbeknownst to teachers whose older ears cannot detect the sound.

A security company in Wales developed the tone -- the Mosquito Teen Repeller -- to drive away teens loitering around shopping malls in Britain,

But US teens have created their own version of the piercing sound and are selling it on the Internet for 2.99 dollars.

Most adults are unable to hear the tone as with age people are less likely to hear high-frequency sounds.

At 17,000 Hertz, Teen Buzz falls within the highest of pitches noticeable to humans, who can hear as low as 40-50 Hz and as high as 20,000 Hz."

Thats just awsome. Until you get caught, I suppose. And it's expensive, and sounds painful on the ears... Yeah. Still cool though.

Sheilds up!

Story: "The Pentagon activated its new U.S. ground-based interceptor missile defense system, and officials announced yesterday that any long-range missile launch by North Korea would be considered a "provocative act."
...
Two Navy Aegis warships are patrolling near North Korea as part of the global missile defense and would be among the first sensors that would trigger the use of interceptors, the officials said yesterday.

The U.S. missile defense system includes 11 long-range interceptor missiles, including nine deployed at Fort Greeley, Alaska, and two at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The system was switched from test to operational mode within the past two weeks, the officials said."

And thats why we need star wars folks. Missle shield has its uses, despite the lack of the Soviet Union. We've still got China, North Korea, and India or Pakistan in the region, armed with nukes.
It would be very, very cool to see this system in action. North Korea's response should be very satisfying.

Zarqawi held benifits in India..

Story: "Iraq's deceased Al Qaida leader, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, was registered for unemployment benefits in India, a recent report suggests.

A query has been ordered to certify how Al Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq last week, came to be registered as an Indian resident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary, N C Bajpai, is particularly concerned about reports that the late Al Qaida leader, who was registered under the name of Ama Zarqawi, was made eligible for unemployment benefits by the Lucknow district administration.

Disciplinary action has been ordered by the principal secretary and district administration against those responsible for the lapse."

Indeed, truth is stranger then fiction.