Judgment You Can Count On -- To Be Skewed

"Obama has credibility issues with Wright as well as his other problem associates Ayers and indicted Chicago political fixer Tony Rezko. In each and every case, Obama has first downplayed his connections to these political hot potatoes. Wright was a 'crazy uncle.' Ayers, a 'neighbor.' Rezko, just 'one of thousands of contributors' to his campaign. Only when these associations have reached a critical political mass has Obama tried to put out the fire."
DKK
Rick Moran

Ganja or Weird Coffee? Na, Effective Policy

THE US war in Iraq has strengthened its strategic position, especially in terms of key alliances, and the only way this could be reversed would be if it lost the will to continue the struggle and abandoned Iraq in defeat and disarray.

Surely the author of this sentence is on the ganja, you might say. Something a little weird in the coffee? It goes against every aspect of conventional wisdom.

But the author of this thesis, stated only marginally less boldly, is one of the US's most brilliant strategic analysts. Mike Green holds the Japan chair at Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies and was for several years the Asia director at the National Security Council. He is also one of America's foremost experts on Japan and northeast Asia generally.

(...)

The US's three most important Asian alliances - with Australia, Japan and South Korea - have in his view been strengthened by the Iraq campaign. Each of these nations sent substantial numbers of troops to help the US in Iraq. They did this because they believed in what the US was doing in Iraq, and also because they wanted to use the Iraq campaign as an opportunity to strengthen their alliances with the US.

More generally, in a world supposedly awash in anti-US sentiment, pro-American leaders keep winning elections. Germany's Angela Merkel is certainly more pro-American than Gerhard Schroeder, whom she replaced. The same is true of France's Nicolas Sarkozy.

More importantly in terms of Green's analysis, the same is also true of South Korea's new President. Lee Myung-bak, elected in a landslide in December, is vastly more pro-American than his predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun.

Even in majority Islamic societies, their populations allegedly radicalised and polarised by Bush's campaign in Iraq and the global war on terror more generally, election results don't show any evidence of these trends. In the most recent local elections in Indonesia, and in national elections in Pakistan, the Islamist parties with anti-American rhetoric fared very poorly. Similarly Kevin Rudd was elected as a very pro-American Labor leader, unlike Mark Latham, with his traces of anti-Americanism, who was heavily defeated.

Suprised? I'm not, but then again I don't listen to the spin and the MSM and the cries of the fever swamped left wing blogs that we unilaterally destroyed America's standing in the world.

DKK

The Australian -- Esteem for US rises in Asia

Honk honk, Get out of the way!

Only Democrats could conclude that putting Americans to work finding more oil won’t help our energy needs or the economy. Apparently they believe the only way to fix the “same failed ideas” is to give up oil and write new laws.

For various reasons OPEC nations can drill oil for dramatically lower prices then we can. It is not economically feasible for us to explore for oil when oil prices drop below a certain level. As a result when OPEC realized we were serious about exploration and alternatives in the 80's they flooded the market with cheap oil thus undercutting these enterprises. Even if we can't become energy independent (which we can't) we can at least have a greater control on our own economy and policies.

That is if the Government would get out of the way.
DKK

Powerline -- The Politics Of Oil

el Nino, la Nina, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles

la-nina-and-pacific-decadal-oscillation-cool-the-pacific (PDF)

The announcement by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) had shifted to its cool phase (Fig. 1) is right on schedule as predicted by past climate and PDO changes.

Global temperatures peaked in 1998 and have not been exceeded since then. Pacific Ocean temperatures began a cooling phase in 1999 that was briefly interrupted by El Nino and dramatic cooling in 2007-2008 appears to be a continuation of a global cooling trend set up by the PDO cool phase (Fig. 1) as predicted [shown in the figure below].

Thus, we seem to be headed toward several decades of global cooling, rather than the catastrophic global warming predicted by IPCC.

If we are lucky, this PDO will be a short event. 2-4 years. If we are unlucky, and it is the “full Monty” phase switch at 20-30 years as Easterling suggests, we may be in for extended cooler times. This may result in some significant extended worldwide effects, notably on agriculture.

We Really have no idea and what we do know isn't enough to make society altering policy.
DKK
Watts Up With That -- More on the PDO shift

Gas Taxes by State

A follow up to the post on gas taxes, ever wonder how much gas tax do you pay?

Illinois
19 cents for on gas and 21.5 on diesel.

Plus 6.25% sales tax and .3 % tax for underground storage tank fund, and other local sales and gasoline taxes. Diesel fuel taxes are 27.5 cpg for commercial highway users.

Here is a summary for every state in the Union.
DKK

Ally Watch -- Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan blocks Russian nuke shipment to Iran

NICOSIA — Iran has reported that a shipment of Russian nuclear equipment was being held in neighboring Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, an ally of the United States, has acknowledged the delay. The Azeri government said it has sought to determine whether the nuclear shipment violated United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran.

But I thought President Bush had ruined our relations with our allies?

DKK

World Tribune

Devil or Savior?

If I understand the point of some statements of Reverend Wright, and many on the left, the US government has done many reprehensible things in the past making it evil.

If that were the case then why do they want more government involvement in their life? If it were me I would want the government to stay as far away from me as possible.

Yet you have examples like Katrina where it seems, based on the media and comments by black leaders, that the government was expected to do more to save people then they were expected to do themselves. This evil government, that should really be shuttered, reorganization, and reopened under another name, was honestly expected to be the savior. (Forget for a moment the Democrats own culpability in mocking DHS warnings to save at least three days worth of food and water because the same memo also mentioned duct tape).

As a matter of fact, Wright's own example of the Tuskegee experiment started with the government offering free health care! Wouldn't you think black America would run, and rightfully so, at the thought of hearing those words again?

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" -- Ronald Reagan
DKK

An Awakening

Barack Obama’s repudiation of Jeremiah Wright didn’t go over well with many of the Kos Kids.

To say the least. Daily Kos: “Uncle Tom” Obama.

I have been a huge supporter of Barack. He is the guy I’ve been behind for quite awhile now. Check my older diaries if you wonder about that. And while I’ve been steeling myself for a Barack loss in November, because I think the Repug machine is too good for him to beat, I had resigned myself to still working hard for him and for the Progressive cause!

But today something changed for me...

Today, the scales fell from my eyes and I saw Barack Obama for what he truly is: a weak man and a standard politician. I really never thought I would say this...

But I am disgusted with him!

All he needs to do is add the word Chicago to his description and he would be just about right on.
DKK
LGF -- 'Uncle Tom' Obama

Healthcare Preview

Speedy health care: 42% of Canadians in Ontario can now get an MRI in only 3 ½ months.

And for 72%, a CT scan can be taken within 2 months.

Knee replacements used to take 63 weeks.

Now, thanks to fast action by Ontario’s government, the wait is down to 44 weeks (10 months).

Well, for 73% of the people.

Don Surber -- Obamacare Preview.

DKK

Sizing Up Obama

The idea that he's going to go and have a face to face interview with Kim Jong Il when he's been in this guy's (Wright) church for 20 years and can't size him up, I mean, I think that is naive.

.
Mort Kondracke on Special Report regarding Obama being -- Shocked that there is gambling going on in the casino -- upset about Reverend Wright's statements.
DKK

Nickel and Dimed to Death

"Now the two Washington candidates in the race have been attacking me lately because I don't support their idea of a gas tax holiday," Obama said.

He argued that suspending the gas tax collections would undercut highway construction, costing North Carolina up to 7,000 jobs, while saving consumers little.

"We're arguing over a gimmick that would save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something," Obama said.

Hold on, hold on, I actually agree with Obama that cutting the gas tax is a bad idea. But not because of the bloated highway spending budget. Rather I think it is a bad idea because it undercuts the market. (Diesel and Fuel tax by state - click for larger view)

Markets work, "Businessweek reports that Americans appear to be burning less gasoline as a result of driving less." If you cut the tax you will encourage greater use thus forcing higher prices for a longer period of time.

If you really want to give the economy a boost then drop corporate taxes, how about cutting ALL state and federal taxes on diesel fuel only -- giving a break in the cost of all goods. The federal tax on diesel fuel is about 30% higher then it is on gasoline (24.4 cents vs 18.4 cents)

DKK

Stop the Pain -- New Orleans Needs Business

WANT TO HELP NEW ORLEANS? Support free trade!

Is there any city for which congressional Democrats claim more concern than New Orleans? So why are they denying the Katrina-ravaged city a major opportunity for recovery by shutting out Colombian free trade? . . . The mayor of the hurricane-hit city made an impassioned plea to Congress to pass the Colombia free trade agreement for New Orleans' sake. He knows how badly his city needs every break it can get, three years after the biggest disaster to ever hit a U.S. metropolitan area. . . .

"New Orleans is becoming an even greater international city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," Nagin wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last November, "and we are making every effort to capitalize on trade liberalization that will flow from these FTAs (free trade agreements). Our port system is ideally situated to take advantage of the Latin American FTAs."

Congress is unmoved because free trade produces less graft than massive aid projects. But it's funny that this hasn't gotten much attention from the press.

DKK

Instapundit

Ding, ding ding, Obama Wins as King of Spending

The Democratic presidential candidates have some big plans -- with big price tags attached. By our calculations, using figures supplied by the campaigns, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has proposed new spending and tax breaks that would amount to almost $265 billion a year when fully implemented, while the initiatives proposed by Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) total nearly $333 billion.

DKK

WASHINGTON POST

Enough With The Number Two Jokes

The Nose On Your Face give us a hilarious translation of Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's number two.

DKK

Never Cooperate, Never Surrender!

The most hilarious point came when Obama tried to claim credit for bipartisanship on the John Roberts confirmation vote — not because he supported Roberts. He voted against Roberts. However, Obama wanted credit for defending the few Democrats who did support Roberts on Daily Kos, and taking the venom of Kos’ readership for his defense.

So bipartisanship is defending your own party members! Actually I have noticed that about the left, the only acceptable cooperation is agreeing with them, it is never the other way around. Obama confirms he is a member of the far left every day -- no wonder some people have a pathological disdain for Fox News, or even the DLC which is moderate in comparison.
American Thinker Blog -- Obama's Weird Idea of 'Bi-partisanship'
DKK

PR Gains In Muslim Nations

Would progress in public opinion against al-Qaeda in Muslim nations constitute important news? One might think so, considering the lengthy and difficult war we fight against the radical Islamist terrorists of the AQ network, especially in recruitment. The Washington Post took four days to report this progress, however, and stuck it on page A13, where Walter Pincus briefs us on some real progress

Hot Air -- US making PR gains in Muslim world — but apparently not in US media
DKK

Americans Really Are Smart

It always seems like a no-brainer to the Democrats: we'll promise to take some money from the "rich" and give it to those most likely to vote for us; how could it go wrong? But those pesky voters--what's the matter with Kansas?--don't think it's quite so simple.

Rasmussen reports that by 65% to 16%, likely voters oppose the Democrats' scheme to increase capital gains taxes. That's partly because lots of people pay capital gains, and partly because many voters have figured out that the Dems may come first for the "rich," but they'll be coming for them, too, before long: 60% say that a candidate who promises to hike taxes on capital gains will raise other taxes, as well. And a considerable number of voters have a better grasp of economics than Democratic politicians; 52% say that increasing capital gains would hurt the economy.

So the Democrats may soon be asking, not just what's wrong with Kansas, but what's wrong with America? Not that that would be much of a departure

Powerline -- Soak The Rich
DKK

Scary Close

WASHINGTON - CIA Director Michael Hayden said Monday that the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in September would have produced enough plutonium for one or two bombs within a year of becoming operational.

U.S. intelligence and administration officials publicly disclosed last week their assessment that Syria was building a covert nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance. They said it was modeled on the shuttered North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which produced a small amount of plutonium. The Syrian site, they said, was within weeks or months of being operational.

“In the course of a year after they got full up they would have produced enough plutonium for one or two weapons,” Hayden told reporters after a speech at Georgetown University.

LGF -- Syria Was Way Too Close To Nukes
DKK

Supremes Uphold Voter ID Law

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states may require voters to present photo identification before casting ballots, opening the way for wider adoption of a measure that Republicans say combats fraud and Democrats say discourages voting among the elderly and the poor.
(...)
(T)he usually liberal Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the main opinion and said the state law is a reasonable reaction to the threat of voter fraud.

"The application of the statute to the vast majority of Indiana voters is amply justified by the valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process," he wrote. His opinion was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who is normally on the right, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who is often considered a swing vote.

This is one of those things you assume happens anyway, it seems like common sense.
DKK
Washington Post

Update: Wizbang Blog says it is a win for, "people who believe in the rule of law. Federalism/states' rights advocates. Republicans," and a, "colossal defeat for Democrats.
DKK

UN Means Unaccountable!

I'D BE SHOCKED, but by now this really isn't shocking:

The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory, the BBC has learned. . . . These are not the only allegations to have been brought against peacekeepers in DR Congo.

In December 2006, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Moroccan troops had been involved in widespread sexual abuse.

"There have been crimes such as rape, paedophilia and human trafficking," he said, shortly before leaving office.

But since there's no anti-American angle, it won't be much of a story.

Instapundit

DKK

Consensus, What Consensus?

I’m only concerned about people who are going hysterical about it. How many billions of dollars is our government going to spend to combat something that isn’t real? That has my attention.
(...)
Was there a consensus of 2,500 scientists at the Bali meeting of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change? Heavens no. The key paragraphs or chapters of their report and the research documents behind it, which are very voluminous, were not widely read by these scientists.

If you look at the history of the IPCC, its mission and existence was to prove that there is climate change. So they start hiring scientists and giving them research money to go out and prove that its mission is valid.

But 19,000 scientists signed a petition against the Kyoto Protocol, and 400-plus scientists spoke out against global warming in 2007, along with at least four dozen TV meteorologists. There is no consensus.

Video at the link.

The New American --Weather Channel Founder’s Forecast

DKK

RICO Thy name is RIAA

WE'RE SEEING MORE OF THIS KIND OF THING: Single Mother Gets RIAA Suit Dismissed, Sues Them Right Back. And I suspect they're vulnerable.

Finally, the RIAA and the record companies failed to innovate and adapt to the new media and then punished their customers for that failure. I hope this lady wins and the entire thing gets solved so legal music is readily available and transportable to any player, any time you want to listen to it.

Instapundit
DKK

Brittons Held By Iran?

The hostages were handed over to the Revolutionary Guards by their Iraqi kidnappers last November, the sources believe. One of the sources said they were being held in the western Iranian city of Hamadan.

If confirmed, the involvement of Revolutionary Guards would be seen as evidence that senior figures in the Iranian government had backed the decision to hold them in the country.

Times Online -- Britons kidnapped in Iraq are ‘held by Iran’

DKK

Islam At Perpetual War?

Islam divides the world into two parts. The part governed by sharia, or Islamic law, is called the Dar al-Islam, or House of Submission. Everything else is the Dar al-Harb, or House of War, so called because it will take war—holy war, jihad—to bring it into the House of Submission. Over the centuries, this jihad has taken a variety of forms. Two centuries ago, for instance, Muslim pirates from North Africa captured ships and enslaved their crews, leading the U.S. to fight the Barbary Wars of 1801–05 and 1815. In recent decades, the jihadists’ weapon of choice has usually been the terrorist’s bomb; the use of planes as missiles on 9/11 was a variant of this method.
Is Islam destined to be at perpetual war with the west?

Bawer: An Anatomy of Surrender

Via LGF

DKK

Credit for over 200 bombings nationwide

I do not understand how William Ayers wound up teaching at a University, holding forth on how he didn’t do anything wrong. I can understand people in succeeding generations wanting to talk to the real deal. But I cannot understand lauding a man who does not regret setting bombs. I believe Weather Underground takes responsibility for over 200 bombings nationwide. I also cannot understand the attitude of a man who wants to be President of all the people of this country associating with Ayers. Let’s not debate the association. It is well documented and it goes beyond ‘we met a few times.’

Lin Farley of Savage Politics
Via Rockford's own Power and Control -- So many choices.
DKK

Press one for success, press two for destruction, press three for implosion

Could the far left and their chosen messiah finally destroy the Democratic Party for a generation?

Possibly. Here are the three outcomes of the race, barring any unforeseen issues:

1. Obama wins the nomination and the election -- demonstrating that Peggy Noonan was absolutely correct when she said George Bush destroyed the Republican Party.
2. Obama wins the nomination and looses the election. In the process the Democrats show that, again they picked an out of touch elitist. Look at some of the discussion on the left side of the internet and you will hear repeated chants that Obama was right in saying that people cling to their guns and God!
3. The super delegates swing the nomination to Hillary Clinton because they see fatal flaws in Obama. This would fracture the party into its various voting blocks greatly reducing the chances of a Democratic victory come November to just about zero.

Whats a super to do?

Is hatred of Bush and the Republicans as bad as the media would have us believe? Is McCain's "maverick" status enough?

Will the Democrats do something to torpedo their chance for victory?

If I were a super I would have to go with Obama and hope he can win. If he doesn't the Democratic Party could be long in the wilderness as the party so out of touch that they couldn't win when they held all the cards.

Obama's elitist statements, his attitude toward using tax policy to force "fairness," his willingness to sit down with the worlds worst, and his lack of judgment in choosing his friends and associates make this standard bearer seem more of an anchor. Oh, and they will blame it all on "swiftboating" of some type. Yep, telling the truth always hurts the Dem's presidential candidate.

Keep watching, this should be interesting.
DKK

Purpose and Update On Stats -- April 28, 2008

The content of the RRStar (online Rockford Register Star) blogs have an overwhelmingly liberal slant in both content, links, and quantity.

I established this blog to demonstrate the type and quality of content the RRStar could offer to its readers and that I would be willing to provide.

Checking the stats of their political blogs it is clear that they need more of a balanced portfolio of political blogs.

Again, here are the political blogs available at the RRStar:

• Applesauce is a prolific far left blog that addresses national issues. The content is mainly composed of links to the left wing of the blogosphere along with a short quips, photo, and video content. Occasionally there are longer posts that include opinions on the items linked. Comments are quickly answered, often with another quip.
  
• In Chambers is a blog that covers Illinois state politics. It appears to be right of center but that could be the result of its adversarial nature to the current state administration. There is no real interaction in the comments.
  
• Sweeny Report is a blog written by the Political Editor of the Register Star who blogs from the center right is a journalist. Postings are sporadic, concentrating on local, state and national issues and are mainly short thoughts on events with few links. He doesn't like to respond to anonymous comments uncharacteristic of blogs but consistent with a newspaper.
  
• Why We Vote is a group blog consisting of the thoughts of the members of the Register Star's voters opinion panel. The posts are mostly left of center (including those from the independents to date). The conservative member who was posting, sadly, passed away recently.

The Stats for April 21 through April 27, 2008:

• Applesauce 29 posts with 40 out links 4 YouTube.
  
• In Chambers 2 posts with 7 out links 1 YouTube.
• Sweeny Report 6 posts with 3 out links 0 YouTube.
• Why We Blog 9 posts (8 left 1 unknown) 0 out links 0 YouTube.

If your interested in balance in the RRStar blogs let me, and the RRStar know.
DKK

Update:
Totals since I started counting March 27, 2008 through April 27, 2008:

• Applesauce 115 posts with 129 out links 16 YouTube.
  
• In Chambers 20 posts with 198 out links 1 YouTube.
• Sweeny Report 22 posts with 11 out links 0 YouTube.
• Why We Blog 21 posts (18 left 1 right 2 unknown) 1 out links 0 YouTube.

DKK

Oops One More Enviro-wacko Error

Concern is mounting because the new generation of biodegradable plastics ends up on landfill sites, where they degrade without oxygen, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. This week the US national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported a sharp increase in global methane emissions last year.

Hype has moved the market, all based on the crisis warnings of a Man/bear/pig that has no one can verify exists.

Months ago I mentioned in the comments that I honestly expected there to come a time when we would look back and dread the day we fundamentally altered the mix of our trash. It had to happen because we really don't know what we are doing, yet the crisis hype hasn't stopped us from doing it.

American Thinker Blog -- The latest environmentalist-generated fiasco


DKK

To The Left of San Francisco Left

Ipeachment isn't Sheehan's only concern. Pelosi's refusal to vote for an immediate end to the Iraq war and to support single-payer health care shows she's out of touch with San Francisco's progressive roots, Sheehan said.

"I'll represent everyone in San Francisco, not just the corporate elite," she said. "I'm working class, my family was working class, and we have struggled the same way our neighbors here in San Francisco have struggled."

How far to the left do you have to be to the left of Nancy Pelosi? Cindy Sheehan left!

SF Gate -- Anti-war Cindy Sheehan files to take on Pelosi

DKK

Results of a Face to Face -- How's That Working?

"The Iranian government pledged to halt such activities some months ago," Mullen said. "It's plainly obvious they have not. Indeed, they seem to have gone the other way."

The discovery of weapons caches in Iraq, with devices bearing stamps that indicate they were manufactured quite recently, run contrary to the Iranian promises not to interfere in Iraq, the admiral said.

Gee, that talking thing worked out well didn't it? When will Obama and the left understand that every other nation does things in its own interest, and that is okay! We should too!

Lefty diplomacy check list:

• Sit down and talk
• Have tea
• Oh pretty rugs!
• Agree, "off the record," that America IS the great satan -- under Republicans!" (Thank goodness you don't wear a flag pin!)
  
• There we have gained trust and got them nodding in agreement
• Get agreement that they will stop sending weapons to Iraq
• Throw in agreement that the Jews control the Republicans, offer Carter as proof that you agree
• OOPS, forget that Carter part, Iranians aren't too keen on Carter, throw him under the buss with your Grandmother!
  
• Come home to adulation, claim your way worked and you have, "brought peace in our time."

• Wait for the rainbows and sunrises that are sure to come
• Discover you've been had, weapons continue
• Regret your Chamberlain act earlier
• Blame Republican, Neocon, warmongers
• Think wistfully back to your glory days -- and those beautiful rugs, where can you get you some of those rugs!
• Spend the better part of the next century meddling with in foreign policy kissing up to terrorists and dictators as a way to, "show them," you were right after you are tossed out of office on your ass at the next opportunity
• Try to figure out why the nation won't trust your party with the keys to the liquor cabinet let alone the Oval Office.

International Herald Tribune -- Top U.S. military officer assails Iran's role in Iraq
DKK

Declaration of independence from Petro-dictators!

There is much we can do to increase our own oil production in ways that protect the environment using advanced technologies, including those that use and bury carbon dioxide, to recover the oil below the wells we have already drilled, and tap oil, natural gas, and shale economically with minimal environmental impact.
(...)
There is no economic force on this globe that is stronger than free people. Entrepreneurs lie at the heart of innovation, growth, and advancing prosperity. Entrepreneurs should not be shackled by excessive regulation that raises the cost of business. Entrepreneurs should not be disadvantaged by earmarking and pork-barrel spending that favors politically connected competitors.

I trust Americans, I trust markets and I oppose subsidies. As President, I’ll propose a national energy strategy that will amount to a declaration of independence from the risk bred by our reliance on petro-dictators and our vulnerability to the troubled politics of the lands they rule. That strategy won’t be another grab bag of handouts to this or that industry and a full employment act for lobbyists.

Yes, that means no ethanol subsidies. But it also means no rifle-shot tax breaks for big oil. It means no line items for hydrogen, no mandates for other renewable fuels, and no big-government debacles like the Dakotas Synfuels plant. It means ethanol entrepreneurs get a level playing field to make their case — and earn their profits.

Hot Air gets answers on John McCain's energy philosophy read the rest.


DKK

Is There A Contest Here?

Gerard Baker Times OnLine.

There's a popular view among Democrats and the media establishment that the reason for the party's current disarray is that it just happens to have two most extraordinary candidates: talented, attractive, and in their gender and race, excitingly new. But there's an alternative explanation, which I suspect the voters have grasped rather better than their necromancers in the media. Both are losers.

The longer the Democratic race goes on, the more obvious it appears that each is deeply, perhaps ineradicably flawed.

I have nothing to add.

Rockford's own Power and Control Blog -- Two Losers.

Extra though from commenter of Neal Boortz:

'We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.
On one side, you have a lawyer who is married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a lawyer.
On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a blonde with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.
Is there a contest here?'

DKK

Media AGW facts don't add up, again!

Are we in danger of being flooded out? Well not from melting sea ice. Both caps are growing and the important one the Antarctic is growing rapidly. The arctic could melt completely and we wouldn't notice the oceans going up an inch.

Are we in danger of doing really stupid things because the news media is failing in its job of reporting facts ? Yes indeed, and Global Warming is just the tip of that iceberg.

Don't make me say it again -- We were given ample warning of the dangers from the scientific-technological elite!

DKK

RedState --Antarctic getting colder , Now has largest sea ice pack on record

How's that judgment going?

Obama understands that the real threat to his candidacy is less Hillary Clinton and John McCain than his own character and cultural attitudes. He came out of nowhere with his autobiography already written, then saw it embellished daily by the hagiographic coverage and kid-gloves questioning of a supine press. (Which is why those "Saturday Night Live" parodies were so devastatingly effective.)

Then came the three amigos: Tony Rezko, the indicted fixer; Jeremiah Wright, the racist reverend; William Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist. And then Obama's own anthropological observation that "bitter" working-class whites cling to guns and religion because they misapprehend their real class interests.

(...)

What is Obama to do? Dismiss all such questions about his associations and attitudes as "distractions." And then count on his acolytes in the media to wage jihad against those who have the temerity to raise these questions. As if the character and beliefs of a man who would be president are less important than the "issues." As if some political indecency was committed when Obama was prevented from going through his latest -- 21st and likely last -- primary debate without being asked about Wright or Ayers or the tribal habits of gun-toting, God-loving Pennsylvanians.

Charles Krauthammer, Obama's 'Distraction' -- Washington Post

DKK

The duce you say?

To many foreigners - and to some Americans - the tolerance of guns in everyday American life is simply inexplicable.

(...)

Why is it then that so many Americans - and foreigners who come here - feel that the place is so, well, safe?

"I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place"

A British man I met in Colorado recently told me he used to live in Kent but he moved to the American state of New Jersey and will not go home because it is, as he put it, "a gentler environment for bringing the kids up."

This is New Jersey. Home of the Sopranos.

Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

"It seems so nice here," they quaver.

Well, it is!

Violent paradox

Ten or 20 years ago, it was a different story, but things have changed.

And this is Manhattan.

Wait till you get to London Texas, or Glasgow Montana, or Oxford Mississippi or Virgin Utah, for that matter, where every household is required by local ordinance to possess a gun.

Folks will have guns in all of these places and if you break into their homes they will probably kill you.

They will occasionally kill each other in anger or by mistake, but you never feel as unsafe as you can feel in south London.

It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.

What surprises the British tourists is that, in areas of the US that look and feel like suburban Britain, there is simply less crime and much less violent crime.

The duce you say?
DKK
BBC News
Via American Thinker Blog

The will to use it!

Even in North America, we are not running out of fuels. Between the Bakken, the Marcellus Shale, Alberta’s tar sands, and two centuries worth of coal, North America is rich in fossil fuels. What we now face is our own decision not to use them.

Canada Free Press
But why do we have to read this in Canada?
DKK
Via Say Anything Blog

Bonus quote:

One of the most extensive oil deposits in the world—the huge Bakken Formation— underlies North Dakota and Saskatchewan. The Bakken holds up to 500 billion barrels of oil, double the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Didn't I just say something like this?

Change, Change, Spare Some Change?

To understand how much Barack Obama's campaign has changed -- or how phony it was from the outset -- consider this statement by his campaign manager David Axelrod:

The white working class has gone to the Republican nominee for many elections, going back even to the Clinton years.

In other words, as Bill Clinton correctly translates, "we don’t really need these working class people to win."

What happened to the Obama who wanted to get past the old divisions and categories, and to reject the politics of "getting to 51 percent" any way possible? I guess the American working class is just too bitter for such an approach to be sustainable.

Change is about all you'll have left if Obama gets his way.
DKK
Powerline: Change you can forget about.

Why Would He Lie?

The Mexican national who was the star witness in a controversial prosecution that resulted in the sentencing of two Border Patrol agents to more than a decade in prison pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges in federal court Thursday.

This guy was caught smuggling drugs AGAIN while waiting to testify against the Boarder Patrol agents. You don't think he had a motive to lie do you? The prosecutor fought to have that information withheld from the jury, and won!
DKK
Wizbang Blog

Will BDS defeat the left -- AGAIN?

A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said yesterday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

How bad does the Bush Derangement Syndrome have to be for someone to beat a wheelchair bound woman? Does the left have no shame and will BDS levels rise causing enough reactions like this to make them unelectable?
DKK
NY Post

The fifth person charged in the case, suspected Venezuelan intelligence agent Antonio Jose Canchica, remains at large.

What, Hugo Chavez's is a hero of the people, he would never use money to try and buy Argentina's election! He doesn't have to, he is the people's Messiah of the South. It will really be a great world when Obama can claim his seat here in the north!

DKK

Miami Herald: Uruguayan pleads guilty in Argentine cash smuggling case

Via Michelle Malkin

Insta Funny!

PHOTO CONTEST: WHO'S LONELIER? Nonsmoking bingo players, or New York Times subscription salesmen?

DKK
Instapundit

Doomsayers Listen Up!

The world is running out of oil. Global warming threatens our very existence. The gasoline-fed V-8 engine will soon go the way of the dodo bird. In fact, cars as we know them are doomed. Who knows how bad it could get? Someday there might even be another Rambo sequel.

I say, get off the planet while you still can.

How homo sapiens managed to claim the top of the food chain mystifies me, for no other creature on earth-with the possible exception of the manicured French poodle-exhibits such unrelenting silliness. Never in all of recorded history has life been so good for so many, yet all humans can do is bite their nails with worry about the gloomy future that awaits us all. Best-selling books, the nightly news, and countless Web sites stoke the fire of fear. Life is awful and getting worse.

Yea, it's about cars but it a very good point!
DKK
Motortrend The Asphalt Jungle

Way To Go MSM

To sum up, then. The Shiite government proved itself willing and able to take on the most powerful Shiite militia. As a result, it has brought the Sunni bloc back into the government, which is a major step on the road to national reconciliation. And this was made possible by the passage of an amnesty law that is a key step in the benchmarks established to gauge Iraq’s political progress.

Yet the media claimed the Iraqi government actions were all a failure and things were falling apart! Wrong again! How much of their reporting can we trust.
DKK
John Podhoretz: Commentary Magazine

There's Gold In Them Thar Waters!

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's discoveries of what may be two of the world's three biggest oil finds in the past 30 years could help end the Western Hemisphere's reliance on Middle East crude, Strategic Forecasting Inc. said.

Saudi Arabia's influence as the biggest oil exporter would wane if the fields are as big as advertised, and China and India would become dominant buyers of Persian Gulf oil, said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Strategic Forecasting in Austin, Texas. Zeihan's firm, which consults for companies and governments around the world, was described in a 2001 Barron's article as ``the shadow CIA.''

Image credit Danegerus.
We could improve our self sufficiency dramatically if we used all of our own resources, but we don't have the will to do that -- I guess gas isn't expensive enough yet.

Oh wait, you mean it isn't the ethanol they make from their sugar? But O'Reilly said....I read an article shortly after he railed on our not using ethanol that spelled out how discoveries of new off shore oil was more important in making them self sufficient.

There is fuel to be discovered and recovered if we would just look.

Self reliance and the ability to control your life is a key to happiness, that applies to a nation as well.
DKK
Bloomberg

Government Catch 22

Drought strikes. People, exhorted by the politicians and functionaries of municipal utilities exert themselves and conserve water. Then comes the reward for all their scrimping on water: Massive fee increases because the water authorities didn't make enough money what with people saving water and all.

ATLANTA — Many residents of the Southeast who sacrificed greener lawns and longer showers to reduce water usage during the region's historic drought are now seeing the other shoe drop: They're being hit with sharp rate increases as water utilities scramble to make up revenue lost because of conservation measures.

No where but government would you get charged more for using less, thing is you are trapped -- there is no alternative, no free market!
DKK
Blue Crab Boulevard

Update RRStar Blog Stats -- Bumped

The content of the RRStar (online Rockford Register Star) blogs are overwhelmingly from a liberal viewpoint in both content, links, and quantity.

I established this blog to demonstrate the type and quality of content I would be willing to provide the RRStar in an effort to provide them with a balanced portfolio of political blogs.

As such I have been keeping track of some stats for the RRStar blogs.

Again, here are the political blogs and the stats for April 11, 2008 through April 20, 2008:

• Applesauce is a prolific far left blog that addresses national issues. The content is mainly composed of links to the left wing of the blogosphere along with a short quips, photo, and video content. Occasionally there are longer posts that include opinions on the items linked. Comments are quickly answered, often with another quip.
  
• In Chambers is a blog that covers Illinois state politics. It appears to be right of center but that could be the result of its adversarial nature to the current state administration. There is no real interaction in the comments.
  
• Sweeny Report is a blog written by the Political Editor of the Register Star who blogs from the center right is a joooouuuurnalist. Postings are sporadic, concentrating on local, state and national issues and are mainly short thoughts on events with few links. He doesn't like to respond to anonymous comments uncharacteristic of blogs but consistent with a newspaper.
  
• Why We Vote is a group blog consisting of the thoughts of the members of the Register Star's voters opinion panel. The posts are mostly left of center (including those from the independents to date). The conservative member who was posting, sadly, passed away recently.

The Stats:

• Applesauce 36 posts with 44 out links 12 YouTube.
  
• In Chambers 7 posts with 31 out links 0 YouTube.
• Sweeny Report 8 posts with 7 out links 0 YouTube.
• Why We Blog 3 posts (2 left 1 unknown) 1 out links 0 YouTube.

I was locked out of the Blogger system but posted what links I had saved last night. There were 42 of them.

If your interested in balance in the RRStar blogs let me, and the RRStar know.
DKK

Update:
Totals since I started counting March 27, 2008 to April 20, 2008:

• Applesauce 86 posts with 89 out links 12 YouTube.
  
• In Chambers 18 posts with 191 out links 0 YouTube.
• Sweeny Report 16 posts with 8 out links 0 YouTube.
• Why We Blog 12 posts (10 left 1 right 1 unknown) 1 out links 0 YouTube.

DKK

It's about time!

The US, Britain, and France walked out of a UN Security Council meeting yesterday, after the Libyan ambassador made a typically disgusting statement.

UNITED NATIONS - Dilomats from the United States, Britain and France have walked out of a U.N. Security Council meeting after Libya compared the situation in Gaza to Nazi concentration camps.

Wednesday’s walkout was a rare protest by members of the U.N.’s most powerful body against one of their own members.

It came when Libya’s deputy ambassador made the comment during a closed council discussion of the possibility of issuing a press statement on recent Mideast events.

Why walk out now? This kind of antisemitism is nothing new at the United Nations.

It's way past time the gloves came off in dealing with the Evil that is the UN.

DKK

Little Green Footballs

Follow up - Trust But Verify, Um Never Mind

A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, according to senior U.S. officials who said it would be shared with lawmakers today.

The officials said the video of the remote site, code-named Al Kibar by the Syrians, shows North Koreans inside. It played a pivotal role in Israel's decision to bomb the facility late at night last Sept. 6, a move that was publicly denounced by Damascus but not by Washington.

In a follow up to this note (Trust But Verify, Um, Never Mind) is this report from the Washington Post.

DKK

What Could You Really Do With All That Money?

As it turns out -- EVERYTHING important!

If you had all the money that plans like Kyoto would cost the world what could you do with it and how effective could you be? Remember, for all the hype of Kyoto it would have only put off any increase in warming by a decade.

Here is a very persuasive video and the description:

Economist Bjorn Lomborg makes a persuasive case for prioritizing the world's biggest problems, asking "If we had $50 billion to spend over the next four years to do good in the world, where should we spend it?" His recommendations - based on the findings of the 2004 Copenhagen Consensus - controversially place global warming at the bottom of the list (and AIDS prevention at the top). Lomborg was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine after the publication of his controversial book, The Skeptical Environmentalist which challenged widely-held beliefs that the environment is getting worse. Now the Danish economist is taking on the world's biggest problems with his Copenhagen Consensus. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:27)

Humans have a wonderful way of inventing and adapting and if there really is a global warming crisis (way overused term) then perhaps one of the people saved by following the advice here of feeding, educating, and providing clean water to every human on the planet (instead of blowing it on AGW scams) might be the savior or Einstein of climate.
DKK
(That was very poorly worded, sorry my mind isn't firing correctly tonight).

Holy Cow -- Hell Must Be COLD

Wow, if Terry McAullife thinks MSNBC is, "in the tank," for Obama and Fox is truly fair and balanced there is something really wrong. I don't think any Republican could have caused this type of damage to the psyche of the Democrats.

Johnny Dollar has the video of McAullife unloading on Chris Matthews.
DKK

Running the Gauntlet

Republican Sen. John McCain sought white votes, not black.

Not that he would turn down any black votes.

But McCain realizes that is not going to happen. 90% or more of the black vote goes to the Democratic presidential candidate automatically.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times got it wrong:

“But the Democrats watch in horror as Hillary continues to scratch up the once silvery sheen on Obama, and as John McCain not only consolidates his own party but encroaches on theirs by boldly venturing into Selma, Ala., on Monday to woo black voters.”

McCain’s objective was to assure white voters that voting for McCain is not racist. He has to show that there is no stigma attached to a McCain bumper sticker.

Because as Bill Clinton learned the hard way in South Carolina, race is the fire no white candidate wants to play with.

Don Surber

DKK

Bagman Or Mortgage Broker?

Federal prosecutors recently revealed that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi billionaire who lives in London, wired $3.5 million to the financially strapped Rezko in Chicago less than a month before the Obama-Rezko purchases. James Bone, investigative reporter for the Times of London, wrote last Tuesday that "the money transfer raises the question of whether funds" from Auchi "helped" Obama buy his house.
(...)
While his friends describe Auchi and his family as victims of Saddam Hussein's tyranny, Pentagon sources call him a "bagman" who laundered money in London for the Iraqi dictator.

DKK

Obama's Former Friend --Real Clear Politics - Robert Novak

King Of Clubs Behind Bars!

Iraqi security forces claim that they have captured the Saddam Hussein’s most senior regime ally.

A man resembling Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, the vice-chairman of Saddam’s Ba’ath party and the King of Clubs on America’s “deck of cards” most-wanted list, was said to have been taken into custody by Iraqi forces.

Al-Arabiya television said that the man was caught in Hamrin between the provinces of Salaheddin and Kirkuk and was moved to Baghdad where he was said to have been handed over to US forces. DNA tests are being conducted to confirm his identity, the report added
Via Hot Air who is reporting that Syria may have handed al-Duri over.
DKK

Guns and God -- Stevenson Act-a-like

And what of the reborn Adlai Stevenson? Mr. Obama is befuddled and angry about the national reaction to what are clearly accepted, even commonplace truths in San Francisco and Hyde Park. How could anyone take offense at the observation that people in small-town and rural American are "bitter" and therefore "cling" to their guns and their faith, as well as their xenophobia? Why would anyone raise questions about a public figure who, for only 20 years, attended a church and developed a close personal relationship with its preacher who says AIDS was created by our government as a genocidal tool to be used against people of color, who declared America's chickens came home to roost on 9/11, and wants God to damn America? Mr. Obama has a weakness among blue-collar working class voters for a reason.

His inspiring rhetoric is a potent tool for energizing college students and previously uninvolved African-American voters. But his appeals are based on two aspirational pledges he is increasingly less credible in making.

Mr. Obama's call for postpartisanship looks unconvincing, when he is unable to point to a single important instance in his Senate career when he demonstrated bipartisanship. And his repeated calls to remember Dr. Martin Luther King's "fierce urgency of now" in tackling big issues falls flat as voters discover that he has not provided leadership on any major legislative battle.

Mr. Obama has not been a leader on big causes in Congress. He has been manifestly unwilling to expend his political capital on urgent issues. He has been only an observer, watching the action from a distance, thinking wry and sardonic and cynical thoughts to himself about his colleagues, mildly amused at their too-ing and fro-ing. He has held his energy and talent in reserve for the more important task of advancing his own political career, which means running for president.

But something happened along the way. Voters saw in the Philadelphia debate the responses of a vitamin-deficient Stevenson act-a-like. And in the closing days of the Pennsylvania primary, they saw him alternate between whining about his treatment by Mrs. Clinton and the press, and attacking Sen. John McCain by exaggerating and twisting his words. No one likes a whiner, and his old-style attacks undermine his appeals for postpartisanship.

Mr. Obama is near victory in the Democratic contest, but it is time for him to reset, freshen his message and say something new. His conduct in the last several weeks raises questions about whether, for all his talents, he is ready to be president.

Karl Rove WSJ - Is Obama Ready for Prime Time?
DKK

Who Is Their Ad Guy?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Seems Like Old Times

On this Earth Day 2008, a new Gallup Poll finds that only about one-third of Americans say they worry a great deal about global warming — roughly the same percentage as in a similar poll 19 years ago.

In May of 1989, 35 percent of respondents expressed serious concern about global warming. The current figure is 37 percent.

The numbers are similar when asked whether immediate, drastic action is necessary: 35 percent said yes in April of 1995; 34 percent said yes last month.

And global warming is nowhere near the top of the environmental problems people worry a great deal about. No. 1 is drinking water pollution, followed by several other water concerns. The loss of natural habitat for wildlife, air pollution, rain forests and the ozone layer all top global warming, which comes in tied for ninth.

Chill in the Air

Of course a major focus of Earth Day is global warming. But it turns out about 40 people at an Earth Day celebration Sunday in Edmonton, Canada, had to cram themselves into a single tent after a blizzard forced them to abandon their outside locations.

The organizer of the event says, "Obviously we'll have fewer people than we would have liked, but to cancel an Earth Day event because of weather would kind of be the antithesis of what this is all about."

Said one of the vendors, "We're here to raise the awareness of the problem, even though on a day like today you don't necessarily think of global warming."

Inconvenient Untruth

There is new evidence of misleading information in Al Gore's Oscar-winning global warming film "An Inconvenient Truth."

ABC News reports one of the most famous shots in the movie — of Antarctic ice shelves — is a fake. The film's visual effects supervisor says the film took the shot from the fictional movie "The Day After Tomorrow," which created it from Styrofoam and scanned it into a computer.

"Yeah, that's our shot," she says. "That's a fully computer-generated shot. There's nothing real in there."

ABC wanted to ask Gore whether it was wrong for a documentary to use a fabricated shot to make a point, but says he did not return their calls.

Since the AGW warm-mongers have spent a whole lot of money for little or no end result it's only fair they force us to do the same -- after all why should they they be the only ones throwing their money down a sink whole.

DKK

The Grapevine -- Fox News Special Report -- via Ace of Spades HQ

I Think That's My Cellphone!

From Fox News:

“Whether he was up to no good or simply desperate to play BrickBreaker, a Mexican press attache was caught on camera by Secret Service pocketing several White House BlackBerries during a recent meeting in New Orleans, FOX News has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the incident said the official, whose first name is Rafael, took six or seven of the handheld devices from a table outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush.

Everyone entering the room was required to leave their cell phones, BlackBerries and other such devices on the table, a commonplace practice when high-level meetings are held. American officials discovered their missing belongings when they were leaving the session.

It didn’t take long before Secret Service officials reviewed videotape taken by a surveillance camera and found footage showing “Rafael” absconding with the BlackBerries.

Sources said “Rafael” made it all the way to the airport, where the Mexican president was preparing to leave New Orleans, before Secret Service officers caught up with him. He was forced to return the BlackBerries.”

DKK
Paterico's Pontifications

According to a 1982 New York Times report, Broadway Baby was implicated in an investigation of a series of violent armed robberies in New York—netting more than $2 million over a two-year span—committed by former Black Panthers and Weather Underground members in the early ’80s.

Their aim? Global revolution, naturally. They needed cash, but the rich white parents weren’t in a giving mood. So their privileged offspring grabbed guns, pointed them at the faces of the working man and, sometimes, they pulled the trigger.

At Broadway Baby, customers often paid by check and used driver’s licenses for identification. On Dec. 28, 1979, information from two customer files was used to apply for two driver’s licenses at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The fraudulent licenses were used to rent getaway cars for the gang.

Investigators tracked the identities on two licenses for the getaway cars. The names belonged to women who had shopped at Broadway Baby in December 1979. But they weren’t robbers.

And who was the manager of Broadway Baby during that period of the customer ID theft?

Dohrn, the future wife of Ayers, identified by investigators as taking customer information from one, and possibly both, of the women shoppers. Dohrn was never charged in that case.

But how can he be held accountable for something that happened when Barack Obama was eight er, in his twenties!
DKK
Via - Hot Air

Warm-Mongering!

Gordon Brown responded to mounting concerns about the global rise in food prices by signalling that he might scale back Britain’s commitment to biofuels, which critics say has exacerbated the food crisis because land has been given over to grow crops for energy rather than food.

I refer back to Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding the scientific-technological elite:

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” (emphasis added)

We are starving people because we really have no idea what we are doing and the government placing a bet based on short sighted warm-mongering ends up with us doing the equivalent of this.

Burning food for fuel -- seriously, are we really that arrogant and removed from food shortages of the past (or even of other parts of the world today) to believe this is smart? I mean I accepted it when some became comfortable to eliminate the high protein meat option and become vegitarians. I even accepted some carrying that further and shunning all animal products and becoming vegans. But burning food so they can get to their yoga class is more then I can deal with.

That IS evil!

You want viable alternatives to energy? Eliminate all taxed for any company that develops and produces a gas replacement that doesn't increase emissions and doesn't use food. There you go.
DKK

Era of cheap food ends as prices surge - Times Online.

A Mirror Image

A former top official in Gov. Blagojevich’s administration pleaded guilty to federal charges this afternoon and leveled some of the most significant accusations yet against the governor.

Ali Ata said in his plea deal that the governor offered him a top administrative position in state government in exchange for Ata’s tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

Blago was an arrogant, untested Chicago politician with ties to Rezko, who was going to bring change to Illinois after the previous, "evil Republican administration." He has proven to be an ineffective, arrogant crook who can't even bring himself to live amongst the unwashed hicks in Springfield, the Capitol of the state -- preferring to commute from Chicago by jet (that the state paid for).

Thanks goodness the Democrats aren't on track to pick an arrogant, untested Chicago politician with ties to Rezko who is going to bring change to the country after the previous, "evil Republican

administration,"

Um, wait ..........

DKK

Chicago Sun Times

How Do I Reach These Kids? *

"I urge all Muslims to hurry to the battlefields of Jihad (holy war), especially in Iraq," Zawahiri said in the message, the second in a two-part series to answer about 100 questions put to him via online militant forums.

"The situation in Iraq heralds an imminent victory of Islam and the defeat of the crusaders and those who stand under their flag," he said.

What does al Qaeda have to do to get the left to understand that Iraq IS the battlefield!

Al Qaeda Chief Slams Muslims For Lack Of Support.

Oh, and seems like the hearts and minds thing seems to be going our way, albeit grudgingly so.

*Title taken from Cartman on South Park that you can see here.

DKK

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Congressional Hispanic Caucus denounced House Democratic leaders Wednesday as "spineless" and no better than Republicans for failing to take on comprehensive immigration reform.

Leaders of the all-Democratic caucus, which numbers two dozen, criticized their party leadership at a news conference for scheduling hearings on enforcement legislation and specific visa issues instead.

But I thought they were going to be different?

AP via Breitbart.

DKK

The Left Gets A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

While the lawsuit makes mention of Frazier's free speech right, the Reads contend that protection ended when the Arizona businessman used Brandon's name "for profit." Frazier's sale of the t-shirts--which include the names of fallen soldiers in the background of bold messages like "Bush Lied/They Died"--has caused the Reads emotional distress, according to the lawsuit. Last year, when the Reads learned that Brandon's name was included on Frazier's shirts, the Tennessee couple's lawyer sent Frazier a letter demanding that the late serviceman's name be removed from the $20 garments.

The Smoking Gun.
DKK

The Sun Just Doesn't Get It -- AGW Denier!

Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh

THE scariest photo I have seen on the internet is www.spaceweather.com, where you will find a real-time image of the sun from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, located in deep space at the equilibrium point between solar and terrestrial gravity.

(...)

The reason this matters is that there is a close correlation between variations in the sunspot cycle and Earth's climate. The previous time a cycle was delayed like this was in the Dalton Minimum, an especially cold period that lasted several decades from 1790.

Northern winters became ferocious: in particular, the rout of Napoleon's Grand Army during the retreat from Moscow in 1812 was at least partly due to the lack of sunspots.

That the rapid temperature decline in 2007 coincided with the failure of cycle No.24 to begin on schedule is not proof of a causal connection but it is cause for concern.

The Australian makes a point that will get some people hot in a world that may be cooling!

DKK

Endangered Species -- The Hollywood Conservative

"I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since."

Robert Downey Jr.'s life has made him realize that personal responsibility matters. Is that why he is now a conservative? I agree with The Weekly Standard Blog that it is just nice to see him getting it together. I remember seeing Chaplin and thinking he was one of the most talented actors of his generation, maybe he can regain his Hollywood prestige.
DKK

2000 Years Of Global Temperatures

Via Say Anything Blog.
DKK

More On Fear of Fearmongering

Are the pro-Obama forces seriously trying to get their troops outraged over this latest ad from Hillary Clinton? Just because it contains a ten-second sequence of presidential crises (Depression, Pearl Harbor, gas crisis, Katrina, etc.) and flashes a half-second clip of Osama bin Laden as part of it? Spare me. Are Democratic political ads no longer even allowed to mention the fact that the next president is going to have to deal with the war on terror?

Don Surber points to this Kenneth Drum Washington Monthly post where he adds:

Even liberals are tired of having to walk on eggshells in this campaign.

Apparently, Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton flashed a picture of Osama bin Laden in a campaign ad.

Gee, that would be like flashing a picture of Adolf Hitler in 1944.

So naturally this upset the easily upset supporters of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

DKK

Getting Wise to Selective Spin Master

ANALYSIS: The video of McCain's response is edited to exclude the remainder of his answer, where he acknowledged that "things are tough right now." This type of selective quoting has become commonplace. Obama, in criticizing McCain on the economy last week, used only a portion of a McCain answer to Bloomberg Television.

The AP's analysis of the DNC's newest ad against McCain.

This is starting to look as habitual for Obama as it is for Howard Dean, and we know how that worked out for him.

Here's the ad:

DKK

Harry Reid -- Out of Order

After days of castigating Republicans for allegedly stalling a veterans benefits package, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) himself decided to postpone the start of the debate — and, indeed the start of Wednesday's session — until 5 p.m. in order to accommodate the schedules of his party's presidential hopefuls, Democratic sources said.

Roll Call
DKK

Pennsylvania Exit Polls

The far left and even some right wing blogs seem to imply that the only reason Hillary is still in the race is her stubbornness, but perhaps it is more then that.

What do the Clintons see that no one else does? Perhaps Pennsylvania can give us the answer.

Here are the Pennsylvania exit polls.

In a general election where the Republicans picked someone who is NOT the choice of the hard line of the party is the messiah of the left the best choice for the Democrats?

Maybe Hillary has a legitimate argument for the Supers!
DKK

Additional: Terry McCauliffe praised Fox News as being Fair and Balanced last night.
DKK