Send a Thank You Note to US Troops Stationed Overseas

Here's where you do it. God Bless Our Troops!

Freepers Call for Protest Outside NYT July 10th

Protest the New York Times Revealing of U.S. Secrets, Monday, July 10, 5 p.m.

June 28, 2006 | firebrand

We have a sound permit, and we will be across the street from the New York Times. They are at 229 West 43rd Street.

The groups on board so far are Free Republic, Caucus for America, the Congress for Racial Equality, and Protest Warrior, NYC Chapter. We have reached out to several other groups as well, and are waiting to hear back from them.

Some high-visibility media people are interested in speaking at the protest. More information will be coming on this as we gather groups and speakers.

So hold the date! If you have been as sick about the Times's unconscionable blabbing of our classified information as the rest of those who care about the nation, now is your chance to do something to make your outrage heard.

Supreme Court: Surrender

Decision here. More later.

Fun with O's Letters to the Editor

I guess there's just no pleasing them.

Take a look at the lineup of the seven Miami men ("Emerging threat calls U.S. home," June 24) charged with -- what? Being terrorists? Fomenting terrorism? [They look like] a gaggle of sad sacks.
Our government, in its wisdom, spends our taxpayer dollars to infiltrate cells of disaffected losers and then claims to uncover evil in our midst. These guys look as though they could use jobs paying $12 an hour, with health insurance and two weeks' paid vacation. Instead, prosecutors will spend millions to try them, hoping to see them sentenced to 15 or 20 years in prison for thinking bad thoughts.
Does anyone seriously think these guys represent anything except the underbelly of a sick body politic? When the emperor wears no clothes, this is his idea of a major achievement.
JUDY MELLOW, North Portland

What's the difference between al-Qaida and the people arrested in Miami for terrorist intentions? From the perspective of Bush administration public relations about the "war on terror," none.
From the perspective of physical danger to us, much. In lieu of capturing Osama bin Laden and his chief [followers,] President Bush resorted to having the FBI entrap a few impoverished, angry men [who had] grand visions of nihilist notoriety.
Portraying this motley crew in Miami as a serious threat that would have developed without the FBI's "assistance" strains credulity.
Gambits like this undermine the excuses for domestic spying, secret programs and violations of our constitutional rights that they are intended to reinforce. The Bush administration seems much better at violating our Constitution than it is at capturing or killing real terrorists.
TOM SHILLOCK, Northeast Portland

Richard Miniter on the Victoria Taft Show tonight. AM 860 KPAM, Portland, Oregon

Richard Miniter on the Show tonight

Zarqawi: We ALL Got Him

This was emailed to me by a friend. I like it.

We ALL got that SOB.
Some grandmother somewhere in America works in a factory soldering wires toa harness that will connect to a little square box containing a little projection camera for an F-16 Heads Up Display.
A young man or woman, a year removed from high school, pulled pins from 500lb bombs on a hot desert tarmac.
Another kid in America works in a foundry pouring hot aluminum alloys whichwill eventually find its way to the compressor stage of the F-100 engine that will power an F-16 from a runway.
Someone in America sang in a church choir on Sunday, and on Monday washolding a rivet gun, helping build another warplane, which will help keep us free.
Some group of brave men in the darkness, shined a little laser beam againsta building.Some geeky American, known for his/her math skills wrote a little programthat turns numbers into coordinates.
Some young American decided to become a pilot after watching theThunderbirds or Blue Angels put on a show.
Some American you or I will never meet, had an idea, which became GPS.Some kid who last year was dancing at a Prom pulled the chocks.
Some kid wiped the canopy that a year ago was wiping car windshields inhis summer job at the local car wash back home.
Someone working in a rubber factory had no idea that his or her work productwas tucking itself into its bay as the pilot brought up the gear 20 ft off the deck.
Some little American girl who years ago was all about MTV and CDs gave avector, cleared hot.
Some pilots did their job.
SHACK, baby.
AMERICA got that son of a bitch.
Every damn one of us.

Tonight on the Victoria Taft Show 6-9pm am 860 KPAM, Portland, Oregon

Andy Mc Carthy of National Review on the NYT's leak story.
Mark W. Smith, author of the new book Disrobed The New Battle to Break the Left's Stranglehold on the Courts.
Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute (see excerpts and links to her Weekly Standard piece on the NYT leak below).


Andy Mc Carthy of the National Review on the debate over whether to legally stop the NYT from revealing yet more war secrets.
Here's his latest story. Here's what he thinks:
Anger over the leaking of national-defense information by the media may have hit critical mass with the exposure, by the New York Times and other newspapers, of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program. Since this highly effective counterterrorism tool was compromised last Friday, President Bush and Treasury Secretary Snow have spoken out forcefully in protest, and many commentators — including here at National Review Online — have argued that this rhetoric must be matched by strong corrective action.But what action? New York Republican congressman Peter King boldly contends it’s time for a real nuclear option: an investigation and prosecution directly targeting the New York Times.
And here's what he's said about the outrageous case here and here.

Heather Mac Donald writes in the Weekly Standard:
BY NOW IT'S UNDENIABLE: The New York Times is a national security threat. So drunk is it on its own power and so antagonistic to the Bush administration that it will expose every classified antiterror program it finds out about, no matter how legal the program, how carefully crafted to safeguard civil liberties, or how vital to protecting American lives.
Get the rest of the piece here.

Here's where you can get Mark Smith's books here and here.

The Westboro Baptist Church Nutballs to "Protest" Pfc Tommy Tucker's Funeral (as we told you last week) but Look Who's Friends with Fred Phelps!

Al Gore! Sorry for the bad quality pictures. I'm sure Al didn't think anyone would be putting them on anyone's website someday!

CONGRATULATIONS OREGON STATE! COLLEGE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

Oregon State overcame tremendous odds to win its first NCAA baseball title in the school's history. The Beavers gritted out a win in Game 3 of the championship series against UNC, 3-2. Scoreboard

HERE'S THE REST OF THE ESPN STORY HERE.

Illegal Aliens Get Caught. Oregon is asked to be Sympathetic to their Plight.

From the Oregoian Editorial page.

If you could custom-order dream neighbors, you'd ask for a family like the Diazes. They work hard, pay their taxes, keep up their double-wide manufactured home in Beaverton's Heritage Village Mobile Home Park, and play by the rules -- most of the time.
There are exceptions. And the family could soon be broken up because of them. Four of the five family members have been, at some point or other, illegal immigrants. The mother and two oldest children are scheduled to be deported July 17. Their neighbors say illegal immigration is wrong, but sending the Diazes back to Guatemala would be wrong, too.
Fifteen years ago, Luis Diaz fled Guatemala after he was threatened for organizing a union. After arriving in Hillsboro, he applied for asylum for himself and his family and won permission to work while his case was being reviewed.
Three years later, Diaz's wife, Irma, and the couple's two oldest children followed a coyote over the border and reunited the family, illegally. Irma Diaz and her children applied separately for asylum, but in much shorter order they were turned down. In 1997, Irma Diaz ignored an order to leave, betting -- wrongly -- that her husband would eventually win his asylum case here, and with it a place for his family in this country.
Recently, Luis Diaz's case did conclude, but the ruling went against him. In the half a generation since he came here, the political climate has shifted in Guatemala. The judge concluded Diaz's life was no longer in danger, hence he had no right to asylum. But sending Diaz back to start a new life now -- he turns 45 on July 15 -- doesn't seem exactly fair, either.
With no job prospects in Guatemala, Diaz says, he'll stay here while his case is on appeal, along with the couple's 11-year-old daughter, Jennifer, a U.S. citizen. He'll work here and send money to Irma, Luis Jr. and Monica Diaz, who have been ordered to leave. The family's only hope now -- and it's a distant one -- is a private bill Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., is planning to introduce on their behalf. A House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration could then request a stay, to keep the Diazes together at least until the father exhausts his appeals. That is reasonable.

It is? Here's the rest of the story

Why Would Saddam Have WMD?

THE WEEKLY STANDARD'S LATEST PIECE ABOUT SADDAM. DIRECT YOUR FRIENDS HERE.

The Worst of Intentions
What Saddam's Iraq was up to.
by Daniel McKivergan
07/01/2005 12:00:00 AM

"I WOULD ALSO ARGUE that if Saddam Hussein were left in power, weapons of mass destruction or no, he would be now, if he were in power, trying to acquire those weapons and use them. Eventually the sanctions were eroding," said Sen. John McCain on Fox News following the president's speech Tuesday at Fort Bragg. The senator was responding to critics, such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Ted Kennedy, who opposed the decision to remove Hussein from power in 2003, and those like vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who is now apparently not sure if we should have toppled him. But the president and Sen. McCain believe otherwise. Furthermore, beyond the consequences of a Saddam still in power, the Arizona senator maintains that it's also important to "recall the facts as we knew them in March 2003."

On March 18, 2003, the day before ground forces entered Iraq, the president confronted a broad range of concerns regarding Saddam's weapons programs, his connections to terrorist organizations, his history of aggressive behavior, his use of poison gas, and his failure to comply with the 1991 Gulf War cease-fire agreement and subsequent U.N. resolutions.

American intelligence and other foreign governments concluded at the time that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. Senior Clinton administration officials stated that the regime possessed stockpiles. Saddam has "stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country," declared former Vice President Al Gore on September 23, 2002. And even a month after the invasion Defense Secretary William Cohen believed we would find weapons: "I am convinced that he has them. I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out. I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons. We will find them."

On top of this were the findings contained in detailed U.N. reports. For example, on March 6, 2003, the United Nations issued a report on Iraq's "Unresolved Disarmament Issues." It stated that the "long list" of "unaccounted for" WMD-related material catalogued in December of 1998--the month inspections ended in Iraq--and beyond were still "unaccounted for." The list included: up to 3.9 tons of VX nerve agent (though inspectors believed Iraq had enough VX precursors to produce 200 tons of the agent and suspected that VX had been "weaponized"); 6,526 aerial chemical bombs; 550 mustard gas shells; 2,062 tons of Mustard precursors; 15,000 chemical munitions; 8,445 liters of anthrax; growth media that could have produced "3,000 - 11,000 litres of botulinum toxin, 6,000 - 16,000 litres of anthrax, up to 5,600 litres of Clostridium perfringens, and a significant quantity of an unknown bacterial agent." Moreover, Iraq was obligated to account for this material by providing "verifiable evidence" that it had, in fact, destroyed its proscribed materials.

The same report noted "a surge of activity in the missile technology field in the past four years" and that while 817 of the 819 Scud missiles Iraq had imported had been accounted for, inspectors did not know the number of missiles Iraq had indigenously produced or still possessed. Similarly, while inspectors had accounted for 73 of Iraq's 75 declared "special" warheads, doubts remained that Iraqi officials were truthful about how many had actually been manufactured. It acknowledged that inspectors had found a handful of 122mm chemical rocket warheads but noted that this discovery may only be the "tip of the iceberg" since several thousand, in the inspectors' judgment, were still unaccounted for. It also stated that no underground chemical facilities had been found but added that such facilities may exist given the size of Iraq and that future inspections in this area would have to rely on "specific intelligence." Finally, the report declared that there appears to be no "choke points" to prevent Iraq from producing anthrax at the same level it did before 1991, that large-scale Iraqi production of botulinum toxin "could be rapidly commenced," and that given Iraq's history of concealment, "it cannot be excluded that it has retained some capability with regard to VX."

But what about the claim made by the president and Sen. McCain that Saddam never gave up his desire for weapons of mass destruction and would have produced them again? Well, in October 2003, U.S. inspection chief David Kay told Congress that the Saddam's regime "maintained programs and activities, and they certainly had the intentions at a point to resume their programs. So there was a lot they wanted to hide because it showed what they were doing was illegal." And in September 2004 then-Iraq Survey Group head Charles Duelfer issued a report which cited many violations of the sanctions regime and concluded that "Saddam pursued a strategy to maintain a capability to return to WMD production after sanctions were lifted by preserving assets and expertise. In addition to preserve capability, we have clear evidence of his intent to resume WMD production as soon as sanctions were lifted." Duelfer continued:

As UN sanctions eroded there was a concomitant expansion of activities that could support full WMD reactivation. He directed that ballistic missile work continue that would support long-range missile development. Virtually no senior Iraqi believed that Saddam had forsaken WMD forever. Evidence suggests that, as resources became available and the constraints of sanctions decayed, there was a direct expansion of activity that would have the effect of supporting future WMD reconstitution.

In the coming weeks, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Reform will be releasing another report related to its investigation of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program. It should shed much more light on Saddam's efforts to undermine the sanctions regime and on what role governments played in "eroding" the very same sanctions they voted to enforce in numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Daniel McKivergan is deputy director of the Project for the New American Century.

WMD FOUND IN IRAQ

Just thought I'd remind you naysayers. See below.

Murtha Does it Again...American the Biggest Threat to Peace. Also that Abu Ghraib thing...that's to Blame too.

MIAMI — "American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon."

Here's the rest of the story.

Shout out to Matthew.

Pfc Tommy Tucker's Funeral to be Picketed by Westboro Baptist Church Nuts

Send cards and support to: The Tucker Family c/o Public Affairs, Oregon Military Department
P.O. Box 14350, Salem, Or 97309-5047



SHIRLEY PHELPS IS ON THE SHOW AT 6:15PM

Westboro Baptist Church Nuts will picket Tommy Tucker's funeral in Madras next Saturday.
God help us. And may Tommy rest in Peace. Here's their website. Here's their press release on their plans to disrupt Tommy's funeral and Kristian Menchaca's too.
Photos taken by Q who goes to all our fallen war heroes. Go to his site: Iraqwarheroes.com.

Hey Kids, Let's Put on a Show! Guys? Where are you? Guys?

86-13
60-39

Moral Equivalence Part Deux

DHS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS: Si! Se Puede ( Get You [fake?] "ID"!)

Date: June 21, 2006
To: All DHS staff
From: Bruce Goldberg, Director
Re: Medicaid Eligibility and Proof of Citizenship

As many of you know, a provision in the 2006 federal Deficit Reduction Act requires Medicaid applicants and recipients to provide documentation of identification and citizenship. This provision, which takes effect July 1, will not initially change our work processes. All DHS staff should continue doing business as usual until the department has provided specific guidance for implementation. Staff from throughout the department are researching options for implementing the new documentation requirements in a way that will not jeopardize people’s health and safety. Once the specific implementation rules and procedures are
developed, they will be provided to you along with directions for working with clients. No operational changes should occur until planning and training have been completed. If you hear concerns from clients before then, please reassure them that DHS will work with them to identify and locate the documents they need to prove No one will be denied access to these programs or rejected from these programs if they meet existing eligibility requirements. Our overarching goal in this transition is to ensure no harm occurs to anyone as we implement
these new federal requirements. Although the new federal regulations require more documentation, there remains some flexibility for handling situations where clients cannot provide such items as birth certificates, photo I.D.s or other identification materials. Because good health and access to health care is important to everyone, my goal is to implement these new requirements in a manner that meets the law without harming needy individuals. As you know, Medicaid is health insurance that helps many people who can't afford medical care pay for some or all of their medical bills. As with other Medicaid program requirements, states must implement an effective process for ensuring compliance with documentation of citizenship in order to obtain federal matching funds. Effective compliance will be part of Medicaid program integrity monitoring. I appreciate that this change is causing concern among staff and clients, and I thank you in advance for your efforts as we move through this transition.

Camp Pendleton 8 Charged with Murder. Next Up: Murder Charges against Al Qaeda. Oh,wait...

I'm hoping these guys didn't do what they're accused of and that they get out of their 8X9 cells. Well at least the shackles came off. We're trying for one of their attorneys for tonight's show.

WASHINGTON - Seven Marines and a sailor were charged with murder yesterday in the alleged planned killing of a disabled Iraqi civilian whose shooting death was staged to look like a foiled roadside bombing. In a separate case, a fourth soldier from the Army's 101st Airborne Division was charged with premeditated murder in the shooting deaths of three prisoners north of Baghdad.
The new cases bring to 12 the number of servicemen facing the death penalty for actions on the battlefield. Military law experts could not recall a previous time when so many troops faced capital punishment, suggesting the heightened awareness of commanders to the impact of atrocity allegations on the Iraq war effort. Charges also are expected to be filed soon against several more Marines in the shooting deaths of 24 unarmed civilians in the western town of Haditha on Nov.19. At Camp Pendleton, Calif., Col. Stewart Navarre said the Marine Corps "prides itself on holding its members accountable for their actions" as he announced the charges against the seven enlisted Marines and a Navy corpsman or medic. The next step in the case will be an Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury probe, of the charges that the troops dragged disabled Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, from his home in the town of Hamdaniyah near Baghdad on April 26 and shot him at least four times in the face. The accused then allegedly took a shovel from Awad's home and put it next to his body, along with an AK-47 rifle commonly used by insurgents, to make it appear that he was shot while planting a bomb by the side of the road.

Here's the Wall Street Journal's take on the above story today. Get the rest here.

The Pentagon yesterday announced the names of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman charged with the April 26 kidnapping and murder of a 52-year-old Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania. The accusations are grave and, if proved, will almost certainly lead to severe sentences. We suspect no parallel process is taking place among Iraqi insurgents for the weekend murders near Yusufiya of U.S. soldiers Thomas L. Tucker and Kristian Menchaca. That's a distinction worth pondering the next time you hear Iraq war critics carp at the U.S. refusal to apply Geneva Convention privileges to enemy combatants. The Convention extends those privileges to combatants who abide by the laws it sets for war, including the treatment of prisoners.Combatants who fail to obey those laws--by not wearing distinctive military insignia or targeting civilians--are not entitled to its privileges. If they were, the very purpose of the Convention would be rendered a nonsense. And this is why the U.S. has refused Geneva privileges to the enemy combatants at Guantanamo, which we hope is an argument heeded by the Supreme Court as it decides the Hamdan case.

We'll see. We'll keep up with the case at Camp Pendleton.
Semper Fi, Marines, the American public is with you.

WMD FOUND IN IRAQ: YEAH WE KNOW

RICHARD MINITER HAD THIS BACK IN '05. HERE'S MY BLOG ENTRY.
(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) announced Wednesday the finding of over 500 munitions or weapons of mass destruction, specifically "sarin- and mustard-filled projectiles," in Iraq.Reading from unclassified portions of a document developed by the U.S. intelligence community, Santorum said, "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."
REST OF THE STORY HERE.

Immigration Bill: DEAD

The House plans a series of hearings across the country to "gauge public reaction" to the immigration reform bill. Gee, wonder what reaction they'll get? Do you suppose Salem's buses will give illegal alien supporters free rides again if they have any of those hearings in Oregon?

WASHINGTON - In a sign that major immigration legislation may be dead for this
year, House leaders decided Tuesday to conduct summer hearings across the nation to gauge public opinion before any formal negotiations with the Senate on a
final reform measure.The move — a rebuke to President Bush's call for quick
action on a bill similar to the Senate's — creates a delay that is almost fatal
to the idea of Congress passing a bill before the November elections, according
to supporters of the Senate's approach to the issue.

Get the rest of the story here.

Did He Deserve It? Left Stuck With its Game of Moral Equivalence.

*update on hero who looked for Tucker here.
May Cpl Tucker rest in peace and may his torturers and killers burn in hell.
Alright lefties since this is your template where is the evidence of US committed torture? Real torture.
*Here is an assessment done at the behest of the ACLU on treatment of enemy combatants in prisons. It's in the LA Times here.
If our men and women in uniform and Rummy and Bushie conspired to commit torture and that's why Tommy Tucker was tortured, then what torture did we commit to foment the following:

• 1993 (Feb.): Bombing of World Trade Center (WTC); 6 killed.
• 1993 (Oct.): Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.
• 1996 (June): Truck bombing at Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killed 19 Americans.
• 1998 (Aug.): Bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; 224 killed, including 12 Americans.
• 1999 (Dec.): Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S.
• 2000 (Oct.): Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed.
• 2001 (Sept.): Destruction of WTC; attack on Pentagon. Total dead 2,992.
• 2001 (Dec.): Man tried to denote shoe bomb on flight from Paris to Miami.
• 2002 (April): Explosion at historic synagogue in Tunisia left 21 dead, including 14 German tourists.
• 2002 (May): Car exploded outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.
• 2002 (June): Bomb exploded outside American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.
• 2002 (Oct.): Boat crashed into oil tanker off Yemen coast, killing 1.
• 2002 (Oct.): Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, killed 202, mostly Australian citizens.
• 2002 (Nov.): Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killed 16.
• 2003 (May): Suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• 2003 (May): 4 bombs killed 33 people targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.
• 2003 (Aug.): Suicide car-bomb killed 12, injured 150 at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• 2003 (Nov.): Explosions rocked a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia housing compound, killing 17.
• 2003 (Nov.): Suicide car-bombers simultaneously attacked 2 synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds.
• 2003 (Nov.): Truck bombs detonated at London bank and British consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 26.
• 2004 (March): 10 bombs on 4 trains exploded almost simultaneously during the morning rush hour in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 and injuring more than 1,400.
• 2004 (May): Terrorists attacked Saudi oil company offices in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, killing 22.
• 2004 (June): Terrorists kidnapped and executed American Paul Johnson, Jr., in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• 2004 (Sept.): Car bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed 9.
• 2004 (Dec.): Terrorists entered the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing 9 (including 4 attackers).
• 2005 (July): Bombs exploded on 3 trains and a bus in London, England, killing 52.
• 2005 (Oct.): 22 killed by 3 suicide bombs in Bali, Indonesia.
• 2005 (Nov.): 57 killed at 3 American hotels in Amman, Jordan.

For Democrats it's "Always a Quarter Past Tet"

"For the Bush administration and the coalition troops in Iraq the battles have been for Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul and Basra, all engagements with the enemy in the field. For the Democrats and their media allies it has been Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Haditha and Niger, all behind-the-lines battles against our troops and their commander-in-chief. For the Bush administration the chief prize has been Zarqawi, the beheader himself. For the Democrats it has been Scooter Libby. The Bush administration barely missed getting Osama bin Laden; the Democrats barely missed getting Karl Rove. The Bush administration’s strategy is to defeat the forces of terror. The Democrats are conducting psychological warfare aimed at American morale – the decisive factor in war.
The worldview of the current Democrats was created generation ago in the first war that America lost on the home front, and it hasn’t changed since. Notwithstanding the Democrats’ timorous, and reluctant -- and quickly retracted -- support for the war in Iraq, and notwithstanding the disingenuous insistence that “anti-war” activists also “support our troops,” the leaders of the Democratic Party left – Kennedy, Kerry, Carter, Gore, Pelosi, Murtha -- looked on the Iraq War from its onset as another Vietnam. Whenever there is the possibility of the use of American power against an enemy that can fight back, it is always for the Democrats a quarter past Tet. "
Read the rest of this David Horowitz/Peter Collier piece here.

Constitution Party in Oregon: Vote for Pedro or Vote for Freedom

And Ron Saxton's Pedro according the Constitution Party which says Saxton's promises are like Pedro's speech in the movie Napoleon Dynamite in which he proclaims "all of your wildest dreams will come true" if you just elect him.
So if Saxton's Pedro, is their candidate, Mary Starrett, the biggest loser in the film, Napoleon? How does she fit in to their analog, exactly? Get your moon boots on Mary and get slamming with
"Canned Heat" and Jamiriquoi.

Pray

"The U.S. military said Monday that seven American troops have been wounded, three insurgents have been killed and 34 detained during an intensive search for two missing American soldiers
The Defense Department identified the missing men as Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. It said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. The three were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.


A member of the U.S. military is seen through the smashed window of a nearby vehicle after a car bomb exploded near a university killing one woman and wounding 19 other people in the northern city of Mosul in Iraq Sunday, June 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahim)

Portland's Future Street Signs?

Foxworth gets Busted to Captain.

The same rank he held when he allegedly conducted his tawdry affair with her.
And wrote tawdry emails to her.
And told her things that he wasn't supposed to.
Oh, and it's the MEDIA's fault.
Tom Potter said the 'media frenzy' added to the problems.

Maliki Aide Who Talked of Amnesty for Insurgents is Shown the Door. Buh bye.

This from the WaPo:
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office on Thursday accepted the resignation of an aide who had told a reporter that Maliki was considering a limited amnesty that would likely include guerrillas who had attacked U.S. troops, the aide said.
Maliki's broad statements about amnesty, at a news conference Wednesday in Baghdad, marked the first time a leader from Iraq's dominant Shiite religious parties had indicated openness to pardoning members of the Sunni insurgency.
The statement from Maliki's office Thursday also said: "It is not true what some of the media outlets including The Washington Post have said about the willingness of the Iraqi government to talk with armed groups."

Get the rest of the story here.

Meet the New Boss; Same as the Old Boss

**UPDATE** Get the back story on the meaning of the Zarqawi kill in the lastest Weekly Standard here. Richard Miniter lays out three Zarqawi Myths.
Myth #1: Zarqawi was "created" by the US
Myth #2: Killing Zarqawi solved nothing
Myth #3: Zarqawi was beaten to death by American troops.


The U.S. military presented the new face of al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday, displaying a photograph of a bearded man in a traditional white Arab headdress and saying he was taking over after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said it's not certain that al-Masri is al-Zarqawi's successor. ABC News reports some officials don't know if he's the real deal but...

The Connection

Here's another one. Saddam and the Taliban cooperating. You don't say.

Watch This Ad

Go here to see it. Fantastic!

GATES FIRES HIMSELF FROM MICROSOFT ;-)

"Microsoft Announces Plans for July 2008 Transition for Bill Gates. Bill Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in Microsoft effective July 2008 to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and will continue to serve as the company’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects. Ray Ozzie assumes the title of chief software architect and will begin working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities, while Craig Mundie takes the new title of chief research and strategy officer and will work closely with Gates to assume his responsibility for the company’s research and incubation efforts."

NYC Wants to Ban Cell Phones in Schools; Verizon Introduces Phones for Pre-Ads

Called the MIGO (ME-go) this phone is equipped with GPS that keeps track of the little tyke. It has no keypad to prevent junior from dialing their hundreds of friends and Mom and Dad can program it so when the child moves beyond a geographical boundary they'll be pinged and the kid would be busted.
Building trust or dependence?
Should cell phones be banned from schools?

Zarqawi Letter: Use the Media to Spread "Creative" Image

New Addition: Go here for full story but here are some interesting excerpts from Richard Miniter's piece on the myths about Zarqawi in this week's Weekly Standard:
Myth #1: The US "created" Zarqawi
Myth #2: Killing Zarqawi didn't really accomplish anything; it was like cutting off the head of the Hydra
Myth #3: Zarqawi was beaten to death by Americans

Zarqawi letter: divide the Shia and US occupiers, foment a US-Iran war, prevent the formation of an Iraqi National Guard, and manipulate the media. See the letter here. Among the more interesting elements of the letter which included three lists constituting a ‘to do’ list:

To improve the image of the resistance in society, increase the number of supporters who are refusing occupation and show the clash of interest between society and the occupation and its collaborators. To use the media for spreading an effective and creative image of the resistance.

Drowning the Americans in another war that will engage many of their forces.

The possibility of acquiring new weapons from the Iranian side, either after the fall of Iran or during the battles.

The question remains, how to draw the Americans into fighting a war against Iran? It is not known whether American is serious in its animosity towards Iraq, because of the big support Iran is offering to America in its war in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Hence, it is necessary first to exaggerate the Iranian danger and to convince America and the west in general, of the real danger coming from Iran, and this would be done by the following:

1.By disseminating threatening messages against American interests and the American people and attribute them to a Shi'a Iranian side.

2. By executing operations of kidnapping hostages and implicating the Shi'a Iranian side.

3. By advertising that Iran has chemical and nuclear weapons and is threatening the west with these weapons.

4. By executing exploding operations in the west and accusing Iran by planting Iranian Shi'a fingerprints and evidence.

5. By declaring the existence of a relationship between Iran and terrorist groups (as termed by the Americans).

6. By disseminating bogus messages about confessions showing that Iran is in possession of weapons of mass destruction or that there are attempts by the Iranian intelligence to undertake terrorist operations in America and the west and against western interests.

Blogging and Porn Surfing: Just Another Day on the Job for Oregon's Government Workers

Oops. Ann Martens blogs on taxpayers' time and now this.
A state worker surfs porn sites on the job allowing in a virus, appropriately called a Trojan Horse spyware virus, compromises 1300 taxpayers' information and the Oregonian spends much of the story lamenting that this happens at many job sites and whether or not those hapless taxpayers will get help cleaning up their credit reports. Apparently they'll save their moral outrage for Karl Rove's truth-telling or the President's trip to Iraq.

But the technology did not stop an employee from using an office computer to surf porn sites and download a Trojan horse, a hidden spyware program not yet known to intrusion-detection software. The Trojan installed itself Jan. 5 and for the next four months secretly captured and relayed data to the hackers who created it. (emphasis: MINE)
More than 1,300 taxpayers are now at risk of identity theft. The Department of Revenue, which disclosed the security breach Tuesday, said the confidential data consisted of Social Security numbers, names and addresses but included no tax records or financial or credit card information.

Hurricane Katrina Survivors Thank FEMA for Hawaiian Vacations, Cristal and Diamonds

Hurricane Katrina survivors tout their tats. Local papers run contest. The contest they SHOULD run: How did Katrina surviors best rip off the american taxpayer with your FEMA $?