By The End Of Kerry's First Term ...

Kerry's hot air turns microphone red.

John "I'm not Hillary; I just sound like her" Kerry wants universal health coverage by 2012 ... conveninently, the year that would be the end of his first term as president. If pigs could fly. Here's the AP report:

Sen. John Kerry on Monday proposed requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2012, "with the federal government guaranteeing that they have the means to afford it." ...

Kerry proposes to pay for the program by repealing tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration that benefit those earning over $200,000 annually. He did not immediately elaborate on how he would enact his insurance mandate, but one aid said he would do so with a requirement written into the legislation spelling out that the government covers anyone who is uninsured.

So, let's see. We stop the economic expansion in its tracks by repealing the tax cuts, putting thousands upon thousands out of work. Then we guarantee that the government will pay for these newly unemployed persons' health insurance.

Gotta hand it to those Dems. Visionary.

Just when you think the pap and pabulum is reaching intolerable proportions, there's this:

"One of my biggest regrets is that fear talk trumped the health care walk, and that we are less safe abroad and less healthy at home because of that," Kerry told a crowd of several hundred during a midday speech at Faneuil Hall.

"Fear talk?!" I don't know about you, but it's not talk with me. I'm very afraid of Islamofascism. Kerry's not, apparently ... and that would guide his foreign policy.

"Trumped the health care walk?!" I seem to remember Hillary floating a leaden universal health care balloon in 1992 and getting crushed as a result. That was eight years before Bush Derangement Syndrome symptoms started showing up in a significant percentage of the Dem demographic.

Perhaps Kerry was spending Christmas in Cambodia and missed that episode.

Related Tags: Kerry, Hillary, Health insurance, Islamofascism

Did Hezbollah Stage Qana Deaths?

There's a mysterious time gap between the only Israeli attack near the Qana building where women and children allegedly died and the building's collapse, plus other mysterious discrepencies.

See what you think after you read this Sweetness & Light post and view the photos.

Based on comments to the post, it seems Koret's wrong on his rigor mortis analysis, but the rest sounds like just the sort of dirty trick Hezbollah has pulled many times in the past.

hat-tip: Jim
Related Tags: Qana, Kana, Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Hizbollah

"I'll Have A Coke With That"

As we note the end of Saddam Hussein's 19-day hunger strike (beef and rice washed down with a Coke, presumably provided by the Great Satan himself), let us remember the UN's wonderful Oil-for-Food program.

Under that program, the beef-chompin', coke-swillin' Hussein scammed money that should have gone to food for his people and used it for his own evil purposes. He cared not a whit about the impact of his behavior on his citizens.

The global Left, whose acuity was in soft focus, as usual, blamed the U.S. for the Iranian people's starvation -- pointing to UN embargo resolutions (661, 666) that we apparently were solely guilty for. A book by Ramsey Clark and others included this:

In all parts of the country, critical shortages of clean drinking water have led to epidemic levels of gastroenteritis (infectious diarrhea). Thousands have died. Already at this early date over fifty cases of cholera have been confirmed by laboratory diagnosis. The true number could be one hundred times this figure since, in most parts of Iraq, hospital laboratories have been shut down due to lack of electricity and reagents-making diagnosis impossible. ...

It is the opinion of the health assessment team that most of the current civilian ill-health and suffering (mostly of children) is a direct result of both the war and especially the continued imposition of punitive sanctions against Iraq. These sanctions violate not only of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols but also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and every other United Nations resolution and convention concerned with human rights. The situation with regards to foodstuffs is even more worrisome.

Not mentioned, of course, is that Saddam Hussein had it within his power to end the sanctions. Also not mentioned is that the man Clark is now so vigorously defending was never wanting for money. He continued to build palaces while his people starved. He continued to fund the military while his people starved.

And he continued his obstinant middle-fingering of the U.N., forcing continued illness and hunger on his people.

Little wonder then that Hussein's hunger strike did not ignite sympathy among the Iraqis. The NYT quotes Fauwzya al-Attiya, a sociologist at Baghdad University:

“Most of us wish he was executed just to end this problem so we can face our other problems.”

Photo: AFP
Related Tags: Saddam Hussein, Hunger strike, Oil-for-Food, UN Resolution 661, UN Resolution 666

This Just In: It's 1952 In China

In 1952, Americans were busy building fallout shelters. Now the Chinese are doing the same thing ... sort of (from the Times of London):

In the modern metropolis of Shanghai, construction has been completed on an underground bunker that can accommodate up to 200,000 people.

Its builders could have had the words of Chairman Mao in mind. At the height of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, he said: “Dig deep tunnels, store piles of grain. Prepare for war, prepare food for the people.”

The bunker in Shanghai was built to shelter people in case of explosions, emissions of poisonous gas or nuclear radiation. State-run media gave no clue as to the source of such possible attacks. Nor did it explain how a complex covering 90,000sq m (968,400sq ft), could have been constructed in total secrecy.

The report yesterday was the first word about it. The underground haven has 15 passages nearly 2.5 miles (4km) in length that link to office towers and residential apartments. It is also connected to the subway system, enabling people to flee from one district to another. It was not clear where the rest of the city’s 17.78 million residents would take refuge.

Water, power and ventilation systems can support the bunker’s population for between seven and fifteen days. In times of peace, some parts can be used as garages, warehouses or commercial facilities.

Officials stopped short of revealing the exact location of the bunker in the bowels of a city renowned for its futuristic buildings and role as the financial heart of China.

What do you suppose China's up to? Taiwan comes to mind. If the militarists and Communists that run China have decided that it's time to lose patience with their rebellious "province," then an air raid shelter would certainly be in order. Not a positive development.

Or they could be worried about retaliation against North Korea, should Kim Il Jung push his nuke program too far. Prevailing easterly winds argue against that explanation.

Or, they could be afraid of themselves. A massive industrial explosion or radiation release is a distinct possibility, given the shoddiness of China's industrialization.

Related Tags: China, Taiwan, Korea, Fallout shelters

Scum! Cowards!

Far bigger blog-fish than I have already linked to these photos by Austrialian Chris Tinker (news.com.au) showing Hezbollah terror-goons setting up artillery posts in heavily populated civilian neighborhoods -- but we all have to do our part to show these thugs for who they are.

hat-tip: memeorandum

Oh, And By The Way ...

When researching the the post below, I came across this on the Web site of e-Mission Solutions (cute, huh?) an organization dedicated to carbon neutrality:

The majority of the world's climate scientists have concluded that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from human activities, such as transportation and electricity production, have a significant impact on the atmosphere and are having a discernible influence on global climate.

Some radical commentors on this site have recently taken the stand that the debate on human influence over global warming is over and only "rubes" don't realize it. I offer this to these global warming fanatics with the suggestion that they grow up. Science is a place for research, debate, diverging views. The science of long-term global heating and cooling cycles is no different.

The Quixotic Quest for Carbon Neutrality

Carbon neutrality, as its name implies, is the quest to offset your "carbon footprint" -- the amount of carbon your business or lifestyle puts into the atmosphere -- with credits deemed to reduce carbon output by an equal amount. Basically, it's "burn a watt, plant a tree," but it gets more complex quickly.

Al Gore bragged recently that he and Tipper are going carbon-neutral, and said he proofed his pudding with his flick, An Inconvenient Truth. Variety details how Gore's Opus Climatus became carbon neutral:

Paramount Classics and Participant [Productions] have teamed with NativeEnergy on an eco-savvy way to tout the film: They're offsetting 100% of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by pic-related globetrotting activities such as air travel, car services and hotels.

NativeEnergy calculates a "carbon footprint" based on the promo activities, with Par Classics and Participant splitting the costs associated with the footprint. NativeEnergy will use the proceeds to help build new Native American, Alaskan Native Village and farmer-owned renewable energy projects.

It's nice that the Native Americans got some renewable energy. I wonder how much carbon will be burned delivering the equipment and the trainers, and how that carbon will be offset.

Note that Gore did not attempt to offset the energy involved in making the film; only in marketing it. Production crew travels, lighting sets, manufacturing cameras, editing and duping the film ... indeed, showing the film in air conditioned theaters that folks drive to ... these are carbon-spewing activities that Gore chose not to be neutral on. Why? Presumably because it would be far too costly.

But what's really obvious is that carbon neutrality in this application is nothing more than another Leftist wealth redistribution scheme: Rich politico-enviros and Hollywood producers give some of their money to poor Native Americans, then recover it by writing it off as marketing expense, so the American taxpayers foot the bill.

In concept, carbon neutrality is blissful. It allows us to purge our materialism guilt by giving to the church of Mother Earth. After all, there's nothing wrong with planting trees, or encouraging the development of alternative energy sources through Renewable Energy Credits, another carbon neutrality strategy. Really. I'm not being sarcastic. There's nothing wrong with that. Go for it.

But there's nothing wrong with not doing it, either. Corporations and individuals give in many ways, and the carbon neutrality movement is a very clever way to encourage their giving to go into eco-causes. But that can mean that other worthy causes -- orphaned children, inner city poverty, coversion of lost souls -- will get less money, and human suffering will increase because the enviros are getting more money to chase the windmill of turning back their demon de jour, global warming.

Because this is a Leftist concept, the next logical step will be to mandate carbon neutrality by forcing businesses to pursue it. In so doing, they are fostering Socialism, forcing their thinking into the free market. Their thinking always is detrimental to the free market. When the free market suffers, people suffer by getting laid off ... which is more impactful on their quality of life than global warming.

Finally, as shown in this satellite photo of air pollution in China -- carbon pollutants that are now wafting over our shores from the smelters, factories and diesel trucks of the eco-bruttality that is Communist China -- we see the final fallacy of carbon neutrality. It focuses on the nations that are working hard to increase efficiency and decrease pollutants, and does nothing globally to fix problems in China and India.

Oh, they may have a handy project you can help fund to put windmills in some farm village in rural China, but what's needed is eco-diplomacy, cutting Favored Nation trade status and tough policy, not chanting Om and prancing after carbon neutrality.

Now that the enviros have introduced the concept of carbon neutrality, they should keep their little promotion machine going and let the free market do its stuff. If they do, carbon neutrality is a fine thing.

But it's more likely they will do what they always do. They will guilt-trip us, indoctrinate our children, and not practice what they preach. (How does a big, fundraising-needy enviro group go carbon-neutral on a direct mail campaign to a couple million recipients?) When that fails to turn public opinion enough for them (and they have a very hard time realizing when they've been victorious) they will use legislation and the courts to force their will on us.

China Photo: Space and Motion
Related Tags: Global warming, Carbon neutral, Carbon neutrality, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth

Iran's Defenders Have Much To Forget

Atefah Sahaaleh was 22, married, and an adultress, so the Iranian revolutionary government hung her.

That's what these pillars of morality said, anyway. But BBC reports that Saahleh was actually a 16 year old unmarried girl. Both her birth certificate and death certificate say she lived just 16 years.

She was not a moral pillar. She had had three previous run-ins with Iran's moral police, which operate under the Mullahs, not the so-called democratic Iranian Parliament. The first arrest was for walking alone on the street. The second was for being in a car with a boy. It got her 100 lashes and abuse by the moral police scum that ran the prison.

The third run-in came to light during her trial for her fourth run-in. It indicates the downward spiral Sahaaleh was locked into:

Soon after her release [from the second charge], Atefah became involved in an abusive relationship with a man three times her age.

Former revolutionary guard, 51-year-old Ali Darabi - a married man with children - raped her several times.

She kept the relationship a secret from both her family and the authorities. fourth charge for contributing to the immorality of other girls. The petition leading to that charge had no witness signatures; just moral police signatures.

The affair with Darabi came out during her trial and the court's rath was one-sidedly directed toward her. Seeing that she was being railroaded, she yelled at the judge and threw off her veil. Routine teen behavior here; a fatal mistake in Iran:

She was sentenced to execution by hanging, while Darabi got just 95 lashes.

Shortly before the execution, but unbeknown to her family, documents that went to the Supreme Court of Appeal described Atefah as 22.

"Neither the judge nor even Atefah's court appointed lawyer did anything to find out her true age," says her father.

And a witness claims: "The judge just looked at her body, because of the developed physique... and declared her as 22."

Judge Haji Rezai took Atefah's documents to the Supreme Court himself.

And at six o'clock on the morning of her execution he put the noose around her neck, before she was hoisted on a crane to her death.

The Mullahs of Iran and their followers at home and elsewhere -- like in Hezbollah -- believe themselves to be the moral representative's of Allah's law and Mohammed's book here on earth. They want nothing more than to subjugate the world to kangaroo courts, lashes, executions -- as witnessed by the fact that Iran is second only to China in annual executions.

The Left argues that the Christian right wants a theocracy. It's true Christian faith would say Sahaaleh is a sinner (who isn't?). But can anyone, no matter how much a leftwing nutcase, remember a single Christian leader calling for the death of a teen who is sexually active -- or a 22 year-old adultress for that matter? Christianity is a religion of redemption.

We have a fearful enemy in this war, and their apologists on the American Left have a longer and longer list of things they must forget in order to maintain their position.

hat-tip: memeorandum

No Iranian Guards In Lebanon? Ha!

Lefty commenter Marshall Darts posted a comment to my earlier post about Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops in Lebanon:

As of today, no credible news outlet has confirmed or even reported your flight of fantasy.

Fortunately, I've got Nexis, so a search of "iranian revolutionary guard AND lebanon" to show that many publications have written about Iranian Revolutionary Guard activities in Lebanon and one besides Net World Daily wrote specifically about the dead IRG troops. It was the New York Sun on July 24:

The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources said.

Israeli and Egyptian security officials confirmed the news, which follows a report that first appeared in The New York Sun, that Iranian forces posted to southern Lebanon have been aiding Hezbollah terrorists in their attacks against Israel, including helping to fire rockets into Israeli population centers.

The Lebanese sources said between six and nine dead Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were brought in trucks last week into Syria for a flight back to Iran. They said the bodies were transported along with the tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians fleeing to Syria.

(Apologies: I'm on a very slow Internet connection, so I don't have time to look up any of the links for the cited articles, which Nexis does not provide.)

Actually, BBC reported on the incident, to report that the Iranians subsequently called the report "baseless." Perhaps Marshall finds the Iranians to be believable. Yet he calls me gullible.

For the life of me, I can't understand why this guy is so unwilling to accept Iranian involvement in Lebanon. Does he want to be a poster child for the Pollyanna Left? The Iranians are evangelical jihadists and helped found Hezbollah in 1983. WaPo once wrote that the Hezbollah manefesto has a picture of Ayatollah Khomeni on its back cover. And he can't put two and two together?

Here's a gleaning from 61 Nexis hits on "Iranian Revolutionary Guard AND Lebanon" in just the last week:

• New Republic, July 31: Hezbollah is equipped with a variety of Iranian rockets, and, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the missile that hit an Israeli warship last week was launched from Lebanon by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
  
  
• Mideast Mirror, July 27: The rockets he has capable of that range are Iranian and are believed by Israel to be under control of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon, despite Nasrallah's claims that his people have been trained in their use.
  
  
• The Scotsman, July 27: With aid from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah has turned south Lebanon into a series of minefields and fortifications, forcing the Israelis to resort to air strikes to wear the enemy down rather than embark on a costly frontal assault.
  
  
• Jerusalem Post: July 26: Iran and Hizbullah believe that the ferocity of the attacks against Israel will deter us all from taking action against Iran's nuclear facilities. But by giving the West the opportunity to fight it first in Lebanon Teheran is providing the US Israel and others with critical intelligence about its own installations. The subterranean bunkers in south Lebanon that IDF ground forces are now conquering were built by Iranian Revolutionary Guards units and designed by Iranian engineers - the same forces that conceived and constructed Iran's nuclear installations.
  
  
• John McCain on Larry King Live, July 26: "I do not believe Hezbollah would have attacked Israel without the encouragement of the Iranians. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard are training Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon."
  
  
• The (Canadian) National Post, July 25: But here's what we do know: We know that the missile that wrecked an IDF warship and killed four sailors on July 15 was manufactured in Iran to a Chinese design. We know that Hezbollah's longer-range weapons are commanded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. We know that Hezbollah's fighting forces were equipped and trained by Iranian officers. And we know above all that Hezbollah is financed, equipped, and trained by the Iranian secret service. It carries out terror missions on behalf of Iran. For all practical purposes, Hezbollah is an arm of the Iranian state.
  
  
• The New York Post, July 24: Master terrorist Imad Mugniyah was in Beirut just days before the Hezbollah kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers - raising strong suspicions that the longtime U.S. foe played a central role in the crime that sparked the conflict in Lebanon. His likely involvement would mean that Iran had a more direct role in the conflict than previously thought, since Mugniyah, 44, is now considered an Iranian agent who lives in Tehran and is under the protection of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
  
  
• San Diego Union Tribune, July 23: Indeed, Iran provides Hezbollah with at least $100 million per year and an estimated 11,000 of the 13,000 rockets in the group's possession. Dozens of Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been working with Hezbollah in Lebanon for many years.

There are many more but this slow download time is killing me.

If it's so obvious and widely accepted that Iranian Revolutionary Guard help Hezbollah and are in Lebanon, what's so unbelievable that the IDF didn't take out a few of the fascist pigs (to use an old Lefty term)? Indeed, they probably, and justifiably, sought out the IRG positions for extra special treatment.

Backpeddling And Denying

As if we really care what the UN says and how it excuses itself and dodges responsibility. But it's fun to watch the next chapter in the perpetual squirm of Kofi's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric and his deputy, Marie OkabeToday it was Marie's turn to squirm:

Question: I’m no lawyer, but I watch lawyers on TV, and I noticed that, before accusing anybody of apparently committing a crime, they always look for motivation, for motive, for committing the crime that they alleged those people made. Now, when Kofi Annan said yesterday that the Israeli attack was apparently deliberate, he didn’t site such motivation .... Could you explain to me what possible motivation Israel would have to attack a UN position?

Deputy Spokesman: First of all, I don’t think it’s the Secretary-General’s position to talk about Israel’s motivation. I would like to refer to Jane Holl Lute’s statement, which was made public, which factually states the sequence of events that occurred …

Question: [talkover] Can you explain to me… [talkover]?

Deputy Spokesman: I cannot speak on behalf of Israel’s motivation. The Secretary-General made that statement and, again, he was asked about it this morning, or this afternoon, in Rome, following the International Conference. And, I would like to draw your attention to it. And, we should have that transcript of his remarks shortly, but, in it, he does say that he had the chance to speak to the Prime Minister of Israel. He said that, let me just read: “He definitely believes it’s a mistake. He has undertaken to investigate, and I have suggested we do a joint investigation. And, he has expressed his deep sorrow at what happened, and we accept that.” [The Secretary-General] goes on to say that he awaits the investigation, the end of the investigation. He looks forward to the results of the investigation, and he is grateful to the Prime Minister for what he has said, and we accept his words. And, I will again refer you to the remarks that he has made.

Question: So, did he jump the gun yesterday?

Deputy Spokesman: No, he did not.

To get through all that and end with a definitive statement like "No, he did not," you have to follow this the formula: Backpeddle, backpeddle, backpeddle, deny. Brilliant!

And when you know you're wrong, promise to get back to them later:

Question: Okay, so do you know how many of the total 21 strikes came from airplanes, because we were told yesterday about laser-guided missiles and things. There’s nothing about this, so was that correct information yesterday?

Deputy Spokesman: I don’t think the Secretary-General’s statement… it stands for what it is. I just will try to find out a little more detail on the specifics of the 21 strikes for you.

[A later information sheet said that at least 11 aerial bombs and 13 artillery shells had been fired n those strikes.]

It's shameful and ridiculous ... but not as ridiculous as Kofi's call today to avoid solutions, i.e., to have an immediate ceasefire. Waving the human suffering card is no good here; wiping out Hezbollah in Lebanon will bring about a greater reduction in human suffering sooner than the UN approach of ceasefire to ceasefire violation to war.

More Gear For Iraqi Police

I'm a big fan of Operation Soldier, which takes care of the families of wounded soldiers and equips Iraqi police with state-of-the-art gear so they can take over from our forces sooner.

They've been busy; I just got this news release:

Iraq's police officers will be better protected on their day-to-day duties, thanks to a new nationwide initiative called Operation Soldier's Brotherhood of the Badge project. Created to provide much-needed police equipment and vests to Iraqi police officers currently in training, Operation Soldier wants to help Iraq establish a stable, modern police force, to help American troops finish the job in Iraq and come home.

Mike Harris, co-founder of Operation Soldier, recognizes a problem when he sees one, and he saw a tremendous one: A need to equip the Iraqi police that are being trained by our military, with safety equipment.

"When these Iraqi police complete their training the only safety equipment they get is a Glock handgun -- with no holster or any other police gear," says Harris. "To me, that was appalling. I care about the safety of these new officers because there is a common bond among us that all officers share: we want to survive our daily patrol. Without gear, chances of survival are significantly diminished."

He adds, "The quicker we can get the local police in Iraq to do their job -- and do their job well -- the quicker our troops will come home."

With this in mind, Harris went into action. He contacted Operation Soldier Board Member, and fellow police officer, Brian Burry. [Honest disclosure: Brian's my brother in law.] Together, they formed a plan, and started soliciting for safety equipment. Protective vests, flashlights, holsters and almost anything else a police department was about to discard was received. The Brotherhood of the Badge Project was born.

Since 2004, Operation Soldier's Brotherhood of the Badge project has been instrumental in providing equipment and training support, as a show of patriotism and police fraternity between officers in the U.S. and Iraq. To date, the Brotherhood of the Badge Project has shipped over 10,000 vests to Iraq.

"This project has been a very rewarding experience," says Brian Burry, co-founder of Operation Soldier. "These Iraqi police are proud to be police, want freedom and really need our support. This new safety equipment instills incredible confidence in these officers and has proven to save several lives already. Our project is making a difference."

Operation Solder's Brotherhood of the Badge team recently partnered with CHIEF, a leading supplier of high-quality products created to meet the changing needs of the Public Safety and Surveying industries, to provide a special procurement of 2,000 brand-new ballistic vests to Iraqi police officers currently in training.

As a partner of the program, CHIEF is donating in excess of $200,000 worth of public-safety equipment for the Iraqi police. This includes day-to-day gear such as flashlights, duty gear, apparel and boots. CHIEF sees this project as a unique opportunity to show its support for national and international police and military operations to achieve a stable, democratic and independent government in Iraq.

It's a volunteer group that's dependent on the cooperation of police departments and private contributions. They'd appreciate any support you could provide.

Off-Kilter Kofi

Kofi Annan has flown off the handle again. This time, he's pre-judged Israel, accusing it of “apparently deliberate targeting” of a UN position in South Lebanon, killing at least two UN peacekeepers.

I shook my head as I typed "peacekeepers." If any further proof is needed of the inappropriateness of that word, it is the situation in Lebanon.

He went on:

"I call on the Government of Israel to conduct a full investigation into this very disturbing incident and demand that any further attack on UN positions and personnel must stop.”

As if Israel wouldn't investigate. As if it would deliberately repeat what is certainly a mistake again. In JPost, Israel's UN ambassador called Kofi's charges "premature and erroneous," adding:

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement of the secretary-general, insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post."

Annan has dealt with some regularity during his time as secretary-general with peacekeepers being killed and in preceding cases, he has spoken diplomatically -- even in cases where the killings were deliberate. What gives with this decidedly undiplomatic attack on Israel?

Could the sec-gen be suffering from a wee bout of anti-Semitism? A fit of pro-Islamofascism?

What Despots Do

So you're the despotic, expansionist ruler of an oil-rich South American nation. Who are your friends? How do you fill your time? The WSJ opens a window:

Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exchanged declarations of solidarity Monday with the authoritarian leader of isolated Belarus, who shares his anti-U.S. views.

Mr. Chavez, a frequent and harsh critic of the U.S., made Belarus the first stop on a major international tour that will also take him to Russia, Iran and Vietnam.

With Chavez having friends like that, we have enemies.

Related Tags: Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Vietnam

Proof Of Iran In Lebanon

A Lefty posted a comment to one of my posts a couple days back challenging the assertion that Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon:

The U.S. has been saying the same thing about Iranian fighters in Iraq for at least three years now. Other than such blanket assertions the U.S. has never produced one, not one Iranian to prove the point.

So far, neither has Israel. Just because they say it's so, doesn't make it so. Remember, there was WMD in Iraq too.

Well, Sir, how about this:

JERUSALEM – The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers who were killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources told WorldNetDaily.

The information was confirmed by Israeli and Egyptian security officials. It follows scores of reports the past few days Iranian soldiers have been aiding Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in their attacks against Israel, including help with the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers.

The Lebanese sources said between six and nine deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were brought in trucks last week into Syria for flight back to Iran. They said the bodies were transported along with the tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians fleeing the country into Syria. ...

The officials said the Iranian soldiers' duties include keeping custody of long-range missiles within Hezbollah's arsenal, including Zalzal rockets which are said to have a range of 125 miles, placing Tel Aviv within firing range.

Jordanian officials told WND they are "100 percent sure" Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit soldiers have fired rockets into Israel. They also said the Syrian army has provided Hezbollah with intelligence information on the locations of strategic Israeli targets to aid in Hezbollah rocket fire.

A Ba'ath party official operating out of the Golan Heights told WND he has information Iranian soldiers have been firing rockets into Israel.

The source for this is World Net Daily, which might trouble our Lefty friend. But look at the sources within: Lebanese, Egyptian, Jordanian and Israeli confirmation.

You'd have to believe Elvis is still alive and Bush is Hitler to not believe Iran is present in Lebanon.

hat-tip: memeorandum
Related Tags: Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Lebanon, Hezbollah

Let's Hear It For Jan Englund

Jan Englund, the UN's humanitarian chief, has gotten it wrong often enough before, like post-tsunami jibes at America for being greedy in the face of others' needs. But this time he got it right:

[Englund] accused Hezbollah late Monday of "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel.

"Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men." (Haaretz)

Of course, he also had to call the Israeli response disproportionate, but would it be so condemned if Hezbollah fought like soldiers instead of schoolyard bullies?

I saw a cartoon the other day of an Israeli soldier prone in front of a baby carriage, firing at a Hezbollah soldier prone behind one. At the most essential level, the difference between the two depictions is the difference between the Judeo-Christian worldview and the Islamic worldview, between a compassionate, salvation oriented message, and a jihad oriented message.

Photo: AP
Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, UN, Englund, Hezbollah

Gore Neutral -- On Carbon

Al Gore told a crowd at the Chautauqua Institution today that he and Tipper have adopted a "carbon neutral lifestyle" because:

"We're embedded in a culture that makes it so easy to just go with the flow and support a pattern that's horribly destructive. And so we need to address this personally."

So now that he's carbon neutral, how did he and the Tipster get to upstate New York? Surely not in a car. Surely not in a plane. Surely he didn't stay at a hotel with air conditioning. Surely his suit was not made of synthetics, but of wool that came from sheep that were walked, not driven, to where they were sheared, and the wool was then processed by women at spinning wheels and loomed by hand by someone named "Butterfly."

Either that, or he's lying. Again.

Saudi Support For Israel?

Arab Times is to Saudi Arabia what Pravda was to the USSR -- an authorized mouthpiece of the government. So when Arab Times opines against Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and for Israel (albeit limitedly), it is worth noting.

Here's the wrap-up of the editorial, authored by editor in chief Ahmed Al-Jarallah :

Without mentioning Hezbollah by name Saudi Arabia blamed certain “elements” inside Lebanon for the violence with Israel and said “it is necessary to make a distinction between legitimate resistance and uncalculated adventures adopted by certain elements within Lebanon without the knowledge of legal Lebanese authorities.” While reiterating its support for Palestinian and Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation, Saudi Arabia has clearly said it is against irresponsible adventures undertaken by certain elements in the region without consulting the legal authorities putting all Arab nations at risk. The Kingdom has also said “these elements must take responsibility for their irresponsible actions and they alone should end the crisis created by them.”

This angry response from Saudi Arabia has politically isolated Hezbollah and Hamas besides holding them responsible for their actions.

This attitude of Saudi Arabia, which has been doing all it can to protect the Arab world from Israeli aggression, is enough to unmask the adventurers, who have violated the rights of their own countries and tried put their people under the guardianship of foreign countries like Iran and Syria. A battle between supporters and opponents of these adventurers has begun, starting from Palestine to Tehran passing through Syria and Lebanon. This war was inevitable as the Lebanese government couldn’t bring Hezbollah within its authority and make it work for the interests of Lebanon. Similarly leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to rein in the Hamas Movement.

Unfortunately we must admit that in such a war the only way to get rid of “these irregular phenomena” is what Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community.

So now the Arabs are letting Israel do their dirty work.

The real revelation will come when they do their own dirty work, purge jihad and jihadists from their religion, stop sectarian violence and embrace a reformed Islam.

Given that this editorial comes from the heart of Wahhabist Islam, I'm not holding my breath.

hat-tip: Jim
Related Tags: Saudi Arabia, Israel, Lebanon, Islam

FlashReport Boss Moves Up

Jon Fleischman, who's FlashReport is a great daily compilation of California political news, is leaving the employ of OC Sheriff Mike Carona so he can spend more time on his mini- new media empire, and start his own public affairs firm.

If I remember it correctly, Fleischman told a public relations lunch a while back that he makes $80K a year from FlashReport -- not bad, but in OC not exactly luxo.

Still, making $80K while in bed in the early a.m. -- as shown in this proof- of- pajamas photo which ran in the OCReg but is credited to Fleischman -- is not at all bad, especially if it lays the groundwork, as it did, for Fleischman's public affairs firm.

Let's hear it for the new media! Were it not for the Internet, Fleischman would be schlepping messages for the sheriff and we'd be out a great source for California political news. The challenge for Fleischman now will be to keep FlashReport honest as he manages campaigns and other public affairs work.

Hold it to a higher standard than Kos, OK, Jon?

Good Words, Weak Words In LA

I've been disappointed by much of Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship and the only good thing I can say for Antonio Villaraigosa is that he's doing a fine job of showing the benefits of the GOP alternative. But I can find no fault in either of these quotes, delivered at a pro-Israel rally that attracted thousands in LA yesterday:

"We're all here to do one thing, and that is to support the state of Israel," Schwarzenegger said, noting that he first traveled to Israel as a bodybuilder and has been back many times since. "Any nation has the right to defend itself against terrorism."

"We're here to affirm the basic truth that there can be no peace without security," Villaraigosa said.

Nearby, 100 protested against Israel, and presumably for Hamas and Hezbollah. The official word from LA's Islamic leadership was a bit different, however:

"We don't have any sympathy for any of these groups, Hamas or Hezbollah," said Maher Hathout, chairman of the Islamic Center of Southern California. "But supposing those guys really are the bad guys, by no stretch of the imagination does that justify what is going on now."

So what is that, an anti-bombing-Lebanon statement or an anti-Syria-and-Iran statement? I assume the former.

Quotes and photo: LATimes
Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Schwarzenegger, Villaigarosa

More Good News From Iraq

After final summations for all defendants, the court is expected to adjourn and consider a verdict, which is likely in mid-August. Saddam is due to stand trial Aug. 21 in the crackdown against the Kurds in the 1980s, in which an estimated 100,000 of them died.

The first Saddam trial, with all its theatrics in the court and violence against participants outside, is nearing a close. Next up, the biggie: the Kurdistan deaths. That trial will put evilness on a grand scale on trial, for apologists, anti-Americans and various other nuts to ignore and the rest of the world to see.

Then, hopefully, blessedly, a well-deserved execution.

Related Tags: Saddam, Hussein, Trial, Kurdistan

When Girls Just Wanna Have Danger

Here's an item you might have missed:

Rape suspect enters not guilty plea

Central Islip, N.Y. -- A man who prosecutors say lured underage girls he met on a vampire-related Internet site to cemeteries for sex pleaded not guilty to rape and sodomy charges.

Eric Fischer, 23, was ordered held on $350,000 bail after entering the plea Thursday on a 25-count indictment .... Prosecutors said he contacted his victims using a Gothic culture Web site and arranged to meet them in cemeteries on Long Island....

If the indictment is true -- and likely it is, because Internet-based crimes are usually easy to document, and 25 counts implies lots of victim statements -- this guy is deeply dangerous and needs long-term confinement. Hopefully with a rape-minded male population. (Think of Mark Steyn's great line from this weekend's column: "There haven't been any Zionists anywhere near Damascus in 60 years, and Syria is, in effect, Iran's first Sunni Arab prison bitch.")

But what are these girls thinking? Cemeteries at night are not exactly thronging with people to protect you. Guys who want to meet you there aren't exactly the kind you'd take home to mama. Their behavior doesn't mitigate his crime, but it certainly makes them guilty of gross stupidity.

What are the cultural dynamics behind girls like this? What kind of role model have their moms provided them? What have their dads told them about boys and safety? Are they swept up in a dangerous lifestyle with absolutely no safety net of reason or morality laid beneath them?

Youthful rebellion is a fact of life, as is the dangerous mix of kids not seeing themselves vulnerable, while at the same time not being able to imagine life after 30. But most rebellious kids have some little voice of caution that leads them away from the most dangerous situations. For these girls, the voice was too dim, too distant, to be of any help.

Related Tags: Goth, Culture, Crime

We Hire Aliens

This guy, from a company called S'no Pressure ,is probably feeling a little pressure now that this photo of him at an alien worker pick-up spot is all over the internet, thanks to WeHireAliens.com.

The site brags, "There are currently 1,977 employers in 46 states currently listed on WeHireAliens.com who 'allegedly' hire illegal aliens." You can use the site to search for employers of illegals, and to contact them to tell them what you think of their practices. One such employer was turned around by the exposure:

"I just wanted to let you know that we found out we were on this website and investigated what had been reported. I am a new owner of this business and was not aware of the hiring practices that had been going on. We took over this businesss in January of this year. In my finds I had found that we did have illegal aliens working at our restaurant. I let go 20 employees within one work day due to illigitimate papers. "
--Chad Head, Corky's BBQ, Brentwood, TN

The information posted is quite complete, like this post on Norfleet, an used car and truck operation in Middleton, Indiana. Kenny Norfleet, left, is not a big operator, for sure, but that's the power of the Internet: It can turn an eye on anyone. On the site, Norfleet contests the charge, and an entry immediately follows, with evidence contrary to Norfleet's allegations. Powerful stuff.

Big problems are rarely solved with big solutions; rather, there is a shifting of the tide of public opinion and public action that creates a new environment and a series of solutions. This is certainly at work on the illegal alien/border issue. The Senate may daudle, but the people have moved on, and are not going to let the matter stand.

hat-tip: OCBlog
Related Tags: Illegals, Illegal immigration, Aliens

Lessons In Lefty-Speak

Ignore the Hezbollah photo ... Repeat the Lefty mantra ... "George Bush is Hitler!" ... Ignore the Hezbollah photo ... Repeat the Lefty mantra ... "George Bush is Hitler!" ... Ignore ...

hat-tip: Atlas Shrugged
Related Tags: George Bush, Hitler, Hezbollah, Lefty

Syria Supplying Hezbollah? Yeah, Right!

The response from the Left on the White House's decision to speed already-approved weapons deliveries to Israel was predictable:

• The United States is now a legitimate military target in that war. That includes factories making the missiles or any parts or materials that go into them, refineries making aviation fuel, and trucks and railroads and ports and ships and planes being used to transport any of those things, not to mention any of the people involved in those activities. (left i on the news)
  
  
• [T]he government takes your money through taxes -- it then gives some of your money and that of other taxpayers to other nations, such as Israel -- and then other nations like Israel use that money, i.e., your money and that of other taxpayers, to buy weapons from companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon. And then those weapons -- that were paid for in part with your money -- are used to kill, among others, innocent civilians in Lebanon. (Once Upon a Time)
  
  
• God, this is a festival of stupid. By the time they finish, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Christian Maronite wing of Hezbollah. Because the Israelis are bombing the shit out of the entire country and Hezbollah are the only people fighting back. Think their stature isn't increasing by the day? (The News Blog)

Some on the right are attacking the NYT for running the story that launched this barrage. In this case, I think the story's legit. After all, conservative talk radio has been imploring its listeners to call Congress and urge that arms to Israel keep flowing.

What's not legit is the Left's criticism of us for providing arms to Israel. Do they really think Syria is providing the weapons? Syria, which ranks 150th in the world in Gross Domestic Product per capita -- behind such economic giants as Suriname and Albania?

Do they imagine a sophisticated weapons plant, maybe in the high tech center of Al Hasakah or over at Syria's Silicon (in the form of sandstorms) Valley, Dayr az Zawr (you know all the CalTech grads who have flooded those cities!), cranking out rockets and mysteriously marking them with Chinese and Russian markings?

No, of course the Left doesn't think that for a minute. But they can't admit that Russia and China are supplying weapons by the boatload to Iran and Syria, and that Iran and Syria are providing weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas.

We don't need proof of the deliveries, or proof of what the Left knew and when they knew it. All we need is history. They ignored the Communist totalitarian superstates' arming of the Viet Cong, of the Cubans, of the Nicarauguans, and other armies and terror groups that we have stood up against in the name of democracy.

They cannot bring themselves to ask the most obvious questions: What happens if we don't stand up for freedom? Who will protect us if not us?

hat-tip: memeorandum; photo: NYT
Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, Left, Terror, Communism

The Innocent Civilians Of Lebanon

I'm sure there are many people caught in Israel's sites in Lebanon who are politically or religiously unengaged, who are anti-Hezbollah and anti-Syria, who may even be pro-Israel, as I posted yesterday.

But they're in Lebanon and they're in a war of aggression that started in Lebanon against a sovereign nation, so there are no innocents in Lebanon today.

Here's Evelyn Gordon writing in the JPost via IRIS:

In any normal country, a junior coalition member that attacked a neighboring country without its partners' consent would be swiftly disavowed and ousted from the government.

Instead, the Lebanese government has passionately defended Hezbollah's actions on the international stage.

Far from repudiating Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, the Lebanese government has actively defended, facilitated and assisted them at every turn. There are thus no grounds for treating it as an innocent party in this conflict.

And until the international community recognizes this, its efforts to resolve the crisis will inevitably fail.

And cuing off that, here's Pamela at Atlas Shrugged:

I am not buying into the innocent civilians meme. If by ignorance, complicity, neglect or helplessness the Lebanese wouldn't throw Hezbollah out and establish a strong government, then they must pay the price for the sins of Hezbollah. And if people put up with dictatorships, theocracies, totalitarian regimes - as they did in Nazi Germany -- they deserve what Hezbollah deserves. Our only concern should be who started the war. Hezbollah/Hamas initiated the use of force and so stepped outside the principle of rights.

Agreed. The citizens of northern Israel were innocents under the barrages of rockets Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to fire from its sovereign soil to Israel's sovereign soil. The people of Lebanon, suffering because of their government's action, are not.

Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Innocents

Lebanon's Unspoken Hatred Of Hezbollah

Michael Young has a piece in the UK Spectator that's good enough for you to go through the registeration hassle if you haven't already.

It deals with Lebanon's unspoken opinion of Israel and Hezbollah, and it's written by a guy who knows. Young is the opinion editor of the Lebanon Daily Star.

His finding: Many people in Lebanon, including Shiites from the bombarded southern suburbs and political leaders downtown, won't say so publicly but they're routing for the Israelis. They've had enough of Hezbollah, and they want them gone. Writes Young:

The Lebanese people have watched as Hezbollah has built up a heavily armed state-within-a-state that has now carried the country into a devastating conflict it cannot win and many are fed up. Sunni Muslims, Christians and the Druze have no desire to pay for the martial vanity of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Nor will they take kindly to his transforming the devastation into a political victory.

Some even welcome Israel’s intervention. As one Lebanese politician said to me in private (but would never dare say in public) Israel must not stop now. It sounds cynical, he said, but ‘for things to get better in Lebanon, Nasrallah must be weakened further’.

Even some Shiites are beginning to have doubts about Nasrallah. If interviewed on television they will praise Hezbollah, but when the cameras are off, there are those who will suddenly become more critical. Many have had to flee, leaving behind their homes and possessions with no hope of recovering anything of any worth.

Israel is comfortable with its role as the world's sewer-cleaner, ridiculed to its face, praised in private. How much easier their job would be if the leaders of Europe -- and some Middle Eastern countries, and some Beltway politicians -- would say what they really believed, and put some power behind it.

Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Spectator, Hassan Nasrallah

Mad Media Disease?

Q: How many people does it take to test 759,000 cows for mad cow disease over 18 months?

A: Too many.

After finding only two infected cows among the 759,000, the Ag Dept. more or less admitted it had been duped by global mad cow hysteria when announcing the inspections. NYT quotes Ag Sec Mike Johanns:

“It’s time that our surveillance efforts reflect what we now know is a very, very low level of B.S.E. in the United States.”

Fear advocates, wary of any evidence that life might not be One Big Hairy Risk Demanding Massive Government Intervention Programs, fired back:

“We think this is just absurd,” said Michael K. Hansen, an expert on the disease at Consumers Union ... and a frequent critic of the Agriculture Department. “They’re playing Russian roulette with public health.”

Not exactaly. Russian roulette is one cartridge in six chambers, not one cartridge in 379,500 chambers.

The decision to drop testing levels from 1,000 cows a day to 100 a day is appropriate -- but you know the class action lawyers are loving this decision and are drawing up their lawsuits against the beef industry and anxiously praying for someone to die so they can get the ball rolling.

Photo: Postershop
Related Tags: Mad cow disease, Consumers union, Beef, Meatpacking, Class action attorneys

Show The Bastard's Face!

Here's one of the (suspected) jihad pigs arrested in the July 11 train bombings in India.

Notice how he's holding the hood tightly around his neck, afraid that the public might see who he is. This is a brave jihad warrior? Why isn't he strutting his stuff for Allah?

Yeah, yeah ... suspects.

According to the PTI account in New India Press, the three are Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari (32), Khalid Aziz Raunak Aziz Sheikh (24) and Mumtaz Ahmed Maqbool Ahmed Choudhary (38). Why do we even bother with the speculation, after an event like the train bombings, that the perps may be something other than Islamists?

The report continues:

ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) officials told the court that they had searched the house of Ansari and seized 1.5 kg of black coloured gunpowder from his premises. The officials also told the court that they had seized mobile phones from the accused. ...

Initial reports indicated that the trio had provided logistic support to the perpetrators of the blasts but ATS sources said their role in the serial blasts would be known after their interrogation.

I'll bet. They're probably still allowed to interrogate, rather than coddle, suspects in India.

Related Tags: Mumbai, Bombay, Terrorist, Islamist

Incestuous Amplification

My post of a couple days back, Beware of Goring, described Al Gore's pressure tactics on scientists who opposed his stand on global warming, as well as the herd mentality among global warming scientists. As could be predicted even with a flawed global warming computer model, it drew a series of oh-so-typical comments from a leftist/warmie hothead.

Said leftist/warmie, Nordie, made such ludicrous and ignorant statements as:

• "And how come no scientists have spoken out, disproving the global warming scientists?"
• "There's no debate in the peer reviewed scientific journals. The only 'debate' comes from oil-funded scientists who are paid to keep you stupid. It's evidently working."

My friend Neil got a chuckle out of all this and called it a fine example of "incestuous amplification." Fortunately, he also sent along a link to Word Spy, which tells us:

incestuous amplification n. The reinforcement of set beliefs among like-minded people, leading to miscalculations and errors in judgment.

Cass Sunstein provided further nuance in an 2003 LATimes piece titled "The Power of Dissent," which is no longer available on line:

In a nutshell: Like-minded people, talking only with one another, usually end up believing a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk.

You might also call it egocasting or mindblindness.

The global warming advocates are certainly guilty of incestuous amplification, and do a very good job of illustrating Sunstein's proposition that it drives the herd to more extreme beliefs than each individual held before gathering into their milling herd.

Another example: Bush Derangement Syndrome. The poor prez gets more stupid every time the herd gets together -- without even opening his mouth!

Related Tags: Global warming, Nordie, Al Gore, Incestuous amplification, Cass Sunstein, Bush Derangement Syndrome

Come Clean

In a brilliant piece of viral marketing, soap company Method ("People against dirty") have launched a Web site (ComeClean.com) that lets you watch people confess their sins ... then have them washed clean.

You see a hand with a confession written on its palm. The hands pump some soap, wash a bit, then you see the palm washed free. While I'm typing, I've seen:

• I super-glued someone's nostrils shut.
• I made out with a girl just because she was Mexican and I love nachos.
• I microwaved a bowl that was not microwave-safe.
• I am going to sleep with my ex next weekend.
• Swore twice today.
• I threw a banana at a guy who cut me off.
• I don't wash behind my ears.
• I accused my co-worker of decorating her cube like trailer trash.
  

If you're carrying a guilt-load, log on and click the "I'd like to come clean" link. If you just want to be a sin-voyeur, click on the "I'd rather read other people's confessions" link and prepare to waste some serious time.

Just when I thought this was a spotless piece of marketing I saw, "I filled the Method soap container with generic soap." Sheesh.

Dubai Buys Image With $3 Million

Stung by the World Ports PR catastrophe, the government of Dubai is spending $3 million in the next year on PR to polish its image.

PRWeek reports $1 million will go to politically well-connected (and occasionally tarnished) PR powerhouse Hill & Knowlton, and another $2 mil will be spent by H&K on services of undisclosed third parties.

The three-fold goal of the PR blitz, according to PR Week, which got a copy of Dubai's Request for Proposals, is to promote the country as a welcoming, tax-free place to do business, a reliable global training partner, and (oh, yeah) a tourist destination.

Here's a PR tip free to H&K: Win some goodwill by having Dubai prosecute and jail citizens who have financially supported terrorist organizations. That would do more than any slick campaign.

Related Tags: Dubai, Hill & Knowlton, World Ports, PR

Brit TV To Air "Wank-A-Thon"

I was all ready to pillory Europe for acting superior to we crass and lowly Americans, while actually being even more disgusting than us. But then I saw this bright idea came from San Francisco, where the Center for Sex and Culture uses the concept to raise funds for "safe sex" charities.

So, instead, let's file this in the "General Fall of Civilization" category. And let's usher this kids out of the room; this is definitely reading for adults only. From the Guardian:

Channel 4 is to bring mass public masturbation to the small screen.

The broadcaster - once led by Michael Grade, dubbed "pornographer in chief" by the Daily Mail - has commissioned a documentary about the UK's first "masturbate-a-thon" as part of a series of programmes dubbed "Wank week", MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

In what must surely be one of the summer's more bizarre events, hundreds of people are expected to gather in a hall in central London on August 5 to pleasure themselves in aid of charity.

Why would they? Because they're godless hedonists? Possibly.

Prizes will be offered; I'll leave the categories to your imagination. And I'll avoid the obvious, disgusting wordplays.

Channel Four is pretty excited about the show, says their spokesperson:

"Following on from the success of 'Penis week', we feel this is exactly the type of provocative and mischievous programming that Channel 4 should be covering in the 11pm slot. Masturbation is something many people do but not many people talk about."

And so it should be; it's not for public conversation, let alone display. But leave it to MSM profit motive to trounce "as it should be" and replace it with "whatever lowbrow, mind-polluting, morality-destroying trash that will make us money."

Masturbation is like marijuana -- a gateway drug to a painful addiction. To celebrate it, to show it, to make it all fun and games is a crime against society. For the record, this crime is being carried out by a public service television station. It does not receive British tax dollars, however; rather, its frequencies were given to it free by an act of Parliament, but it must raise its funding through advertising and other commercial ventures.

Related Tags: Masturbation, Wank-a-thon

Katrina Doc Should Walk

Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses, Lori Budo and Cheri Landry, are on trial for murder in New Orleans after 34 patients died at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center following hurricane Katrina. They are charged with giving lethal injections to three patients.

And they should be. Absolutely.

But they should not be found guilty.

The charges are necessary because doctors and nurses injecting patients with lethal doses of medicine cannot be taken lightly. Ever. And especially when no consent has been granted.

A trial sends a message to the medical community that even in the most extenuating and dire circumstances, society is going to take a hard, hard look at anyone who practices euthanasia. We don't want to follow the Dutch on this matter.

But were they to be found guilty, it would be a travesty. The guilty party is the city of New Orleans and its incompetent yet grandstanding mayor. How elementary is it that emergencies require a focus on the weakest and most infirm, and most of them are in hospitals. The doc and her nurses were criticised for not evacuating the hospital. But here's the "evacuation plan," courtesy of the NYTimes (which also gets credit for the photo):

[Pou attorney Richard T. Simmons Jr.] said the sickest patients could not have been evacuated on the inflatable boats being used. And he said that to take patients to the roof for helicopter rescues, orderlies had to squeeze them through a 3-foot-by-3-foot hole in a hospital wall and push them on gurneys up the ramps of the parking garage before carrying them onto the roof.

Mr. Simmons said some patients also died while being transported under those conditions.

Faced with conditions like this because of the systemic failure of the City of New Orleans, Pou and company had to deal with nightmarish situations. Focusing on them leaves the real culprits in soft focus.

I do fear that the hench-lawyers who circled Michael Shiavo, arguing for society's "right" to kill off people who have become too expensive, will take Pou's case as a "right to kill" case. That would change my thinking, and I'd be rooting for Pou's conviction. But if the defense focuses on Pou's powerlessness against the monumental incompetence of the city, they can use the trial to put the city on trial, and just might win an aquittal that doesn't set case law for "right to kill" activists.

Related Tags: Pau, Euthanasia, Katrina, New Orleans

Iranians Fighting In Lebanon

Michael Savage, who I almost never listen to because of his anger, was bashing Israel today for pushing too aggressively into Lebanon. Paraphrasing:

Lebanon is one of the only Muslim emerging democracies. It only wants neutrality, and I'm afraid Israel's action will push it back into civil war and destroy exactly what President Bush is trying to establish in the Middle East.

That's possible, and all of us have rooted hard for democracy to take hold in Lebanon. But I think it's time to admit that what's taken hold there is Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Perhaps Savage should have read this, from the NY Sun:

Hundreds of Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel are on the ground in Lebanon fighting Israel, security sources say.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that they are there and operating some of the equipment," an Arab diplomatic source told The New York Sun yesterday.

Another foreign source, based in Washington, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps contingent in Lebanon is based in Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. He said the troops usually number a few dozen, but that the size of the force increased in connection with the hostilities that have broken out between Israel and Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, over the past week.

The sources said the Iranians had directly operated a radar-guided C–802 missile that Iran acquired from Communist China and that hit an Israeli navy missile boat off the coast of Lebanon on Friday, killing four Israeli seamen.

"This was a direct message to the Israelis that we are fighting the Iranians here," the Arab diplomatic source said.

Do you suppose these Iranians are careful to stay only in the southern suburbs of Beirut? Do you think their munitions simply materialize out of thin air, or do you suppose they are trucked in, over bridges and through intersections? Do you suppose those Iranian munitions might be stored in warehouses here and there around the city?

Do you think these Iranian fanatics are ferociously committed to Mah- I'm- in- the- moud for Jew-blood Ahmadinijad (rhymes with "fire that C-802 missile bad ... boy")?

As usual, the rush to judgment against Israel is long on prejudice and short on military intelligence.

Photo: Reuters
Related Tags: Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Ahmadinijad

Terrorists Strike In L.A.

The Animal Liberation Front almost killed a 70 year old woman in L.A. on June 30 (sorry for being late on this ... I was on vacation back then). From AP:

Federal authorities have announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who tried to firebomb the home of a UCLA professor.

The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the June 30 attack, which failed because the "Molotov cocktail" was left at the wrong house, according to the FBI.

The target was Lynn Fairbanks, a primate researcher at University of California, Los Angeles. Instead, the bottle filled with a flammable liquid was left on the porch of a 70-year-old neighbor.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller has said if the device had functioned properly, it would have been difficult for the woman to escape.

These guys are usually tough to catch ... but in this case, they were stupid enough to not read addresses right. They'll be stupid enough to get caught. Hope they enjoy jail. I hope they get assigned to the kitchen, specifically, to the meat-cooking detail.

Related Tags: Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front, UCLA, Lynn Fairbanks

Here's Cause To Celebrate!

The scummy excuse for a human being who murdered and mutilated Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker has been killed.

A Jordanian who killed two U.S. soldiers last month was fatally wounded in a clash with security forces, a senior Iraqi official said Tuesday. Diyar Ismail Mahmoud, known as Abu al-Afghani, was identified as the killer of the two soldiers, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told reporters. ...

During the news conference, al-Rubaie also said security forces detained the leaders of the Omar Brigade group, a wing of al-Qaida in Iraq that had claimed to have carried many deadly attacks throughout the country.

He identified the group's leader as Jassim Mohammed, known as Abu Othman, his deputy Abu Aisha, who was in charge of financing the group, and Abu Ihab, who was in charge of recruitment. The fourth was Abu Islam, who was in charge of religious affairs, al-Rubaie said.

"The Omar Brigade is one of the death squads," al-Rubaie said, adding that the group was responsible for the deadly bombing in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City on July 1 that killed 66 people. (source)

I hope Diyar Ismail Mahmoud (note that the initials spell "dim") suffered mightily and died slowly.

Breaking up this cell is just another of the many things Lefties and Dems have to ignore as they continue to criticize our military for the execution of the war in Iraq.

Related Tags: Menchaca, Tucker, Al Quaeda, Iraq, Omar Brigade

Hezbollah Knows Its Limits

1,000 Americans and 500 other Europeans on a cruise ship, slowly chugging out of Lebanon. A tempting target for Islamofascists, no?

But Hezbollah let the Orient Queen sail with nary a projectile hurled in its direction, evidence that even in the hateful extremist minds of warring Islamists, there is a recognition of limits. Or was it a direction from their handlers in Damascus or Tehran? Or a direction from Beijing or Moscow, passed through Damascus or Tehran to the front lines of the War for Civilization?

Meanwhile, the U.S. was busy evacuating at least one ingrateful little twit:

"I can't believe the Americans," said Danni Atiyeh, a civil engineer from Kansas City, Mo., waiting earlier Wednesday with his pregnant wife and sons, ages 6 and 10, for a bus to take them to the cruise ship. "Everybody else has gone home ... We're still here." (source)

"The Americans?" If you are indeed an American, Danni, you don't call the personnel in your embassy "the Americans." They are we, us. And, in fact, "the Americans" are doing pretty well -- not just arranging your transportation for you, but making sure it's got military cover to protect your ingrateful neck.

And Danni, let's see how well your frustrations play with the Australians, Belgians, Britains, Canadians, Germans and Indians who are still be in the process of being evacuated.

While we're on the subject, couldn't AP have found one grateful, complimentary American to quote?

Related Tags: Lebanon, America, Hezbollah, Evacuation