This was made clear Friday, when Ahmadinejad, speaking in a provincial tour, called on the "international community" to end the conflict by "restraining Israel." This was strange coming from a man who, before the current fighting, had vowed to destroy Israel on more than a dozen occasions.Heh. What a pansie!
A profitable company is to shutter a factory it built in 1992 as part of a much-hailed visionary strategy to take advantage of technology. But now it is just a cost to be cut. Eight hundred jobs, many of them well-paying blue collar positions (supposedly an endangered species) will disappear, while managerial and professional jobs are being protected.Rethuglicans strike again.
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — A diversion of dollars to help fight the war in Iraq has helped create a $530 million shortfall for Army posts at home and abroad, leaving some unable to pay utility bills or even cut the grass.
In San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston hasn't been able to pay its $1.4 million monthly utility bill since March, prompting workers in many of the post's administrative buildings to get automated disconnection notices.
Robert Brooks, the chairman of Hooters of America, Inc. who made his fortune selling chicken wings served by scantily clad waitresses, was found dead at his home Sunday, officials said. He was 69.
Putin, whose government has expressed concern about the region sliding into war, said he agreed that Hizbollah's actions were "absolutely unacceptable".Paul at Power Line replies: "Call me naive, but I had always thought that the object in a military action was to employ disproportionate (i.e., more) force than the enemy."
"This is all true, and in this context, we consider Israel's concerns to be justified," the Russian president said. But, he said, "the use of force should be balanced".
"The nation's largest news organizations and journalism groups" filed a brief in federal court Wednesday arguing that "a federal court should first determine whether a crime has been committed in the disclosure of an undercover CIA operative's name before prosecutors are allowed to continue seeking testimony from journalists about their confidential sources," the Washington Post reports:
The 40-page brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argues that there is "ample evidence . . . to doubt that a crime has been committed" in the case, which centers on the question of whether Bush administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame in the summer of 2003.
The British government yesterday bolstered President Bush's assertion that Iraq sought uranium from Niger, casting further doubt on former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's claims to the contrary.
The conclusion was reached by Robin Butler, who once was Britain's top civil servant, in a major report on prewar intelligence that came five days after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reached a similar conclusion in its report.
Taken together, the British and U.S. reports appear to undermine Mr. Wilson's criticism of Mr. Bush, which led to a criminal investigation of the White House and made the retired diplomat a media darling.
"It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited Niger in 1999," the British report said. "The British government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium.
"Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports, the intelligence was credible," the report added.
That buttressed an assertion by Mr. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union speech: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Yesterday, the British report called that assertion "well founded." The report was cited by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who told Parliament: "It expressly supports the intelligence on Iraq's attempts to procure uranium from Niger in respect of Iraq's nuclear ambitions."
The State of the Union assertion rankled Mr. Wilson, who said he found no evidence of such an attempted purchase during a CIA-sponsored trip to Niger. Mr. Wilson arrived in the African nation in late February 2002.
"I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people," he wrote in the New York Times 18 months later. "Niger formally denied the charges."
Wilson was on CNN's "American Morning" the day after his column ran, spinning his straw into golden fabrications:
HEMMER: It's a wonderful day for us here at American Morning! You went to Niger several years ago. You concluded essentially that Iraq could not buy this uranium from that country. Why not?
WILSON: Well, I went in, actually in February of 2002 was my most recent trip there — at the request, I was told, of the office of the vice president, which had seen a report in intelligence channels about this purported memorandum of agreement on uranium sales from Niger to Iraq.
The Senate Intelligence Committee also found that Wilson lied about the role played by his wife, Valerie Plame, in his trip to Niger. Wilson wrote in his book, ironically titled The Politics of Truth, "Valerie had nothing to do with the matter. She definitely had not proposed that I make the trip." In fact, however, the Committee reported at p. 4:
[D]ocuments provided to the committee indicate that [Wilson's] wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip. The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador's wife "offered up his name" and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002 from the former ambassador's wife says, "my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity."
The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region.
The Senate Intelligence Committee's report says about Wilson's trip to Niger - The following, at p. 8 of the report's "Niger" section:
The intelligence report based on the former ambassador's [Wilson's] trip was disseminated on March 8, 2002 ... The intelligence report indicated that former Nigerian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mayaki...said that in June 1999, [redacted] businessman, approached him and insisted that Mayaki meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Niger and Iraq. The intelligence report said that Mayaki interpreted "expanding commercial relations" to mean that the delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales.
When Wilson talked to the Committee's staff, he related a version of events that was different from the official CIA report that summarized his oral debriefing, and it also contradicted the recollections of the relevant CIA employees. The committee wrote, at p. 9 of its report:
When the former ambassador spoke to Committee staff, his description of his findings differed from the DO intelligence report and his account of information provided to him by the CIA differed from the CIA officials' accounts in some respects. First, the former ambassador described his findings to Committee staff as more directly related to Iraq and specifically, as refuting the possibility that Niger could have sold uranium to Iraq and that Iraq approached Niger to purchase uranium. The intelligence report...did not refute the possibility that Iraq had approached Niger to purchase uranium.
See also p. 38 of the report, where the Committee notes that most analysts understood Wilson's report from Niger as supporting the original CIA concerns about a possible uranium deal between Niger and Iraq.
And that's not all. The Senate committee also found that Wilson falsely leaked to the Washington Post the claim that certain documents purporting to show uranium sales between Niger and Iraq were forgeries because "the names were wrong and the dates were wrong," when in fact, he had never seen the documents and was not familiar with their contents. See p. 10 of the Committee's report:
Committee staff asked how the former ambassador could have come to the conclusion that the "dates were wrong and the names were wrong" when he had never seen the CIA reports and had no knowledge of what names and dates were in the reports. The former ambassador said that he may have "misspoken" to the reporter when he said he concluded the documents were "forged." He said he may have become confused about his own recollection....
To Sum up:
The Senate Intelligence Committee's report shows that:
1) Wilson lied in the New York Times about what he told the CIA after he returned from Niger. In fact, far from debunking the concern that Iraq may have tried to buy uranium from Niger, Wilson reported that Niger's former Prime Minister told him that Iraq had made just such an overture in 1999.
2) Wilson lied when he leaked a report to the Washington Post about documents he had not even seen.
3) Wilson lied when he said that his wife Valerie "had nothing to do with" his being chosen to go to Niger.
BLITZER: Even though some of your supporters... they say your decision and your wife's decision to let her be photographed represented a major mistake because if there were people out there who may have been endangered by her name certainly when people might have seen her picture, they would have been further endangered.
WILSON: Her contacts and her network was endangered the minute Bob Novak wrote the article. The photograph of her did not identify her in any way anybody could identify.
To give you an indication of how effortlessly this guy lies, CNN was at that moment displaying the Vanity Fair photo of Wilson and Plame on a huge screen right behind him. So Wilson was asserting that no foreign intelligence service would be clever enough to see through the sunglasses-and-scarf "disguise" Plame is wearing in the photo.
WILSON: Let me just get this very clear. When one is faced with adversity, one of the ways that one acts in the face of adversity is to try and bring a certain amount of humor to the situation. It's called irony. And uh, if uh, people have no sense of humor or no sense of perspective on that, my response is it's about time to get a life. But in no way did that picture endanger anybody. What endangered people was the outing of her name, her maiden name, and subsequently the outing of the corporation she worked for...
BLITZER: So you don't have any regrets about the Vanity Fair picture?
WILSON: I think it's a great picture. I think...
BLITZER: It's a great picture, but I mean...
WILSON: I think someday it too will be in the International Spy Museum.
Sharon was succeeded by Ehud Olmert, a man who once said in a speech,'We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies... .' No words could more aptly demonstrate the success of Hezbollah's strategy against Israel. And the presence now in Gaza of Israeli troops, engaged in pitched battle with Palestinans, demonstrates the bankruptcy of the Gaza disengagement plan.The Hedgehog Blog
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By its displays of weakness, in Lebanon and Gaza, in the cause of 'Peace Now,' Israel has convinced its deadly foes of its vulnerability and has invited attack. As a result, Israel now fights a two-front hot war."
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hezbollah raid "an act of war" and held the Lebanese government responsible, vowing that the Israeli response "will be restrained, but very, very, very painful."
The safety valve for the "Castle doctrine" is for burglars, crackheads, carjackers, strong-arm robbers, muggers, rapists, thieves and other assorted boils on the butt of humanity to stay out of homes, cars, stores, offices and other domiciles that don't belong to them and to stop mugging, robbing, raping and stealing.
Those who utilize that course of action aren't terribly likely to be shot. Those who don't likely will be.
The "Castle doctrine" should serve notice on those who choose a life of crime that the consequences of that choice may prove dire indeed - and that potential victims may indeed "shoot first and ask questions later."
Again, there's a safety valve for those criminals. It's called not breaking the law in the first place.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."
Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan rejected requests from lawmakers and Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office.
Police said Monday that more arrests are likely in a rape case involving an 11-year-old girl who may have been attacked by as many as 10 men.
Two arrests have been made in the Saturday attack, and officials said they have identified eight others as persons of interest. Most or all are students at either Fresno City College or Reedley College, police said.
Japan on Monday was considering a pre-emptive strike against North Korea's missile bases, signaling a firm stance before a possible U.N. Security Council vote on sanctions against the communist-led country.
Six years ago, I needed a new car to replace the minivan I gave my ex- in the divorce. I had three sons, we camp and ski, and so the mandate was three rows of seats (so I don't have to Tase them too often on long trips) with space in back to put the plastic Tupperware boxes of gear that we travel with.Read on ==> Winds of Change.NET: The 3% Solution
There were only three cars (plus several 12-passenger vans) that fit the requirement. Ford Excursion, Chevy or GMC Suburban, and a Honda Odyssey minivan.
As I said, kid, a tin ear. You are articluate, but you don’t know much about the devices of rhetoric. Sullivan isn’t mentioning slavery and Rumsfeld in the same breath to create an objective, dispassionate impression. Only a naif would believe such a thing--and I grant you your poetic juxtaposition.
Jeff was merely pointing out that Sullivan’s increasingly left-wing spew undercuts whatever claims he may be making to ‘conservatism’ and objectivity.
Your worldview--as I’ve suggested before--is predicated on a dislike and distrust of the United States so deeply ingrained that you are not even aware of it. From this single attitude, all else in your “political philosophy” devolves. Yet, you examine yourself and find yourself to be a reasonable, liberal fellow. Logic, my ass. You are not the one to judge the quality of a logical argument. You haven’t the tools.
Yours is an attitude that is as repellent to others as it is to me. That’s where the hostility is coming from. You have no gift for perspective, knowledge of history or sense of the ebb and flow of life. You are a nihilist. You read neither broadly nor deeply. You do not interpret the things you have read very well. You cobble your arguments together from dry cuds left over from your school days and bits of hoary leftist propaganda you’ve collected from various fashionable, politically-caressed news sources. Contrary to what you may believe, you haven’t an original idea in your skull. You are a dupe, a tool and a useful idiot.
Yet, even that fails to prevent you from speaking arrogantly about issues of which you know virtually nothing and disparaging honorable people whose feet you are not fit to kiss.
WASHINGTON - Social Security numbers and other personal data on 26.5 million veterans and military troops were not copied from a Veterans Affairs computer missing for eight weeks, the FBI said Thursday.
The recovery of the laptop and external drive was a "positive note in this very sad saga," VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged the Bush administration on Sunday to seek criminal charges against newspapers that reported on a secret financial-monitoring program used to trace terrorists.
Rep. Peter King cited The New York Times in particular for publishing a story last week that the Treasury Department was working with the CIA to examine messages within a massive international database of money-transfer records.
The Chicks can't hide their disgust at the lack of support they received from other country performers. "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do," says Robison.What a doof.
"A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism."
"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism."
Customers craving fresh crustaceans will have to look beyond Whole Foods Market Inc. after the natural-foods grocery chain decided Thursday to stop selling live lobsters and crabs on the grounds that it's inhumane.I don't know what to say.
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The Austin-based grocer spent seven months studying the sale of live lobsters from ship to supermarket aisle, trying to determine whether the creatures suffer along the way.
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Ultimately, Whole Foods management decided to immediately stop selling live lobsters and soft-shell crabs, saying they could not ensure the creatures are treated with respect and compassion.
"We place as much emphasis on the importance of humane treatment and quality of life for all animals as we do on the expectations for quality and flavor," John Mackey, Whole Foods' co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Animal rights activities were thrilled with the decision, not just because of the way lobsters are harvested, shipped and stored but because of the fate that awaits many of them — being dropped alive into a pot of boiling water.
"The ways that lobsters are treated would warrant felony cruelty to animals charges if they were dogs or cats," said Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
In making its decision, Whole Foods pointed to a November report from the European Food Safety Authority Animal Health and Welfare panel that it said concluded all decapod crustaceans, including lobsters and crabs, appear to have some degree of awareness, feel pain and can learn.
The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society except their constant criticisms can feel both intellectually and morally superior.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl championship, broke his jaw and nose in a motorcycle crash Monday in which he was not wearing a helmet.
"We see that budgets for policing are being slashed and the federal government has gotten out of that business," said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. "Funding for prevention at the federal level and many localities are down and the (National Rifle Association) has renewed strength."Beautiful!
Nearly 18,000 military personnel have been wounded in combat since the war began in Iraq more than three years ago, according to Defense Department statistics. Some have lost legs and arms, suffered horrific burns to their bodies and gone home permanently.
But the vast majority have remained in Iraq or returned later - their bodies marked by small scars and their lives plagued by aches and pains.
Many of the injured soldiers have begged their commanders to let them come back. One soldier was sent home after a bomb exploded in his face and damaged his eyes. He likely will never return to Iraq, but still asks. Another was sent home because of a heart condition, but returned to Iraq three times, according to Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, a commander in the 502nd Infantry Regiment.
Kunk, who is not a doctor, decides every week which wounded soldiers can return to duty. Often the soldiers research regulations and argue endlessly, he said.
It's heartbreaking when he has to say no, but he does.
"Sometimes there's too much 'Hooah!' in us guys," Kunk said. While he doesn't want to dampen that enthusiasm, he said, "I don't want to hurt the guy the rest of his life."
