Hate to Say We Told You So, But…

Tech Central Station has had one of those deja-vu moments – pointing out the threat of Hezbollah just a month ago. The current war is now in it’s 30th day.

This part of the conclusion hits the nail on the head:

Accordingly, even more than when we wrote our pre-war apologia for the elimination of Hezbollah’s missile threat, Israel’s fight is America’s fight. If the United States government insists on a ceasefire at this point (as Secretary of State Rice appears to be doing by supporting a flawed United Nations resolution), it will not only undermine Israel’s security, but will betray the principles of the civilized world in general and our own national interests in particular. The Security Council deadline for Iran to suspend its nuclear program is less than a month away. Does any sane person really think that if the mullahs and their proxies emerge unscathed from their current adventure — recall that Hassan Nasrallah has asserted that Hezbollah “needs only to survive to win” — they will be more amenable to diplomatic efforts on an issue of even greater importance to them? Tehran has let loose its “dog of war,” Imad Mughniyeh. Can even the mullahs leash him again short of the Shi’a eschaton which he and Iran’s genocidal president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad want to hasten? Iran has, with impunity, been fanning sectarian tensions in neighboring Iraq for months, costing America both lives and treasure. If no consequences follow from the far more direct aggression of Iran’s Hezbollah proxy far from home, will the Tehran regime suddenly relent from meddling in Baghdad?

Both America’s mind as well as its heart should dictate that the administration lend even greater support for Israel’s belatedly vigorous self-defense against Hezbollah. The IDF’s lines in Lebanon have become the pivotal front of the global war on terrorism.

This just MIGHT have some further relevance to the reality on the ground. Check it out.

EGYPTIAN STUDENTS VANISH IN BIG APPLE

This one just gives you a warm glow, knowing that the government is on the job protecting us from questionable individuals coming into the country. Based on this, is it any wonder that there is SERIOUS question about establishing a so-called “guest-worker” scheme, which effectively loosens the borders even more?

Eleven Egyptian students who were supposed to travel to a Montana university after flying to JFK airport late last month disappeared in New York, spurring federal authorities to issue a nationwide alert, officials said yesterday.

The students – who were traveling with six (other) classmates from Mansoura University in Egypt – had their student visas revoked for failing to show up at Montana State University in Bozeman, the officials said. The other six students made it to the college.

“The FBI and ICE [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] would like to locate these 11 students in order to speak with them,” said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko after the “be-on-the-lookout” alert was issued to all police in the United States.

Yep – the horses are on the loose! Time to close up the barn door!

Kolko said there is no reason to believe the missing students, all men around 20 years old, represent a threat.

Uh…Richard…what reason is there to believe that these perps (hey, they broke the law at this point, right?) are NOT a threat? Hmmmm?

“At this point, all they have done is not show up for a scheduled academic program, and their visas have been revoked,” Kolko said.

Up to 9-11 the terrs hadn’t actually done anything serious yet either.

“We do not know of any association with any terrorist or criminal groups.”

How reassuring this is!

“There is no threat associated with these men.”

We do NOT and CANNOT know that there is no threat!

“We have simply asked law enforcement’s assistance in locating them so that the FBI and ICE may interview them.”

Move along. Nothing to be see here folks. Nothing to worry about. Your government is on the job.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said the situation “has to be taken very seriously.” “Having a number of students from an Arab country arriving on student visas and disappearing is cause for concern,” he said.

At least SOMEBODY doesn’t have his head inserted into a location where the sun doesn’t shine!

A barbaric kind of beauty

How to approach this? It’s one thing to debate the use of fetal stem cells for medical purposes. In spite of any research results that show that there can be a positive medical outcome, it can be argued that there are still grounds for research to be carried on, as is in fact being done.

The policy debates in the United States are NOT so much about the Federal government banning or allowing such research – rather they deal with whether or not the Federal government should PAY for such research. President Bush’s veto has settled the issue, at least for now.

This story goes a bit beyond THAT debate.

It seems that foreign (Euro and Caribbean) clinics are using harvested fetal stem cells for COSMETIC treatments – which by the way are NOT based on any apparent valid scientific research at all. The source of the stem cells apparently are the former Soviet Union, where women are being paid $200 to carry a fetus to 12 weeks, and then aborting it for stem cell harvest.

Can you say G-H-O-U-L-I-S-H? Sheesh!

What does it say about the state of a culture that consumes its young in the interest of the illusory and temporary cosmetic vanity of a small number of apparently affluent if soul-less individuals? The Chief doesn’t see how this is essentially any different in principle from cannibalism.

This non-Catholic thinks more and more that Pope John Paul II hit the nail on the head when he warned of the rise of a “culture of death”.

AMERICAN CIVILIZATION – Intro. and Ch. 1 On Line

Bill Whittle is moving along with his on-line book on American Civilization. Ch. 1 came out while the Chief was in Connecticut on a teaching workshop at the American Radio Relay League, so I missed its debut, but as usual, it’s up to Bill’s usual high standard of excellence.

IMHO, Bill Whittle is the Thomas Paine for the 21st Century – no one does it quite like he does.

If you want to stimulate your brain, be prepared to spend a bit of time – this is NOT something to just scan through, but it will be worth it.

Military Officers Attempted a Coup in Iraq

The government of Iraq is secretly holding a Baathist cabal of military officers it claims attempted a coup against Prime Minister al-Maliki.

The plotters were rounded up July 5 with the help of American military authorities after the Iraqi government’s security warning center sent word to Mr. Maliki, who was in Kuwait on his first official visit as head of state, two highly placed Iraqi sources said.

All’s well that ends well…er…at least not as bad as it could have been.

Weep, drink and be Melly

Asia Times’ Spengler goes into a sort of “Dear Abby” mode, all to very good effect. As usual, he is well worth the read, especially where he does an EXCELLENT job of comparing/contrasting the attitudinal differences between American Christianity, and what passed for same in Euro-land, and the American support for Israel.

Just a sample – read it and ponder, then check out the whole piece, it’s worth it:

What binds American Christians to Israel is that the inner journey of each Christian, in his conversion from Gentile to child of Abraham, recapitulates the story of Israel, just as Jesus’ own story recapitulates the entire story of Israel’s redemption. American evangelicals are not baptized and raised as Christians; they must become Christians at the age of sentience. But to become a Christian is to undertake Israel’s journey. You consider your Church to be Israel; evangelicals are children of Abraham by adoption, which is not to say that they are less loved by their foster father than the children of his flesh. But because they love their adoptive father, they love his natural children all the more.

This is really good stuff. Check it out!

15 States Expand Right to Shoot in Self-Defense

Interesting trend. With the demonstrated inability of law enforcement to actually protect, politicians are discovering that this sort of issue crosses economic, political, gender, lines – hence the explicit legal protection of self-defense.

Good news for citizens, bad news for perps. By the way, the Chief is gratified that both his original home state of Missouri, and his adopted state of South Dakota have both passed this legislation.

Bono and U2 seem to know what side the bread is buttered on. Apparently fuzzy sentiment only goes so far when it comes to dealing rationally with the sort of financial resources they have at their command.

U2 move their assets out of Ireland

The rock band U2 came under criticism yesterday after reports that it has moved a portion of its multi-million-pound business empire out of Ireland for tax reasons.

Based in Dublin, U2 have long benefited from the artists’ tax exemption introduced by Charles Haughey, the late prime minister. It is reported that the band’s move has been made in response to a £170,000 cap on the tax-free incomes introduced in the last Irish budget.

Another case of those pesky tax increases driving out investment capital. Stewardship trumps sentimentality again.

Does Forbes deal mean Bono has left it all behind?

One of the world’s foremost anti-poverty campaigners has invested in Forbes, the publishing company regarded as the ultimate mouthpiece of capitalism.

Former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, who is chief executive of Forbes and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, said: “This investment by Elevation Partners will now accelerate our pursuit of a number of very exciting opportunities… The team brings impressive experience and great expertise, and they are particularly strong in technology, media and entertainment innovations. Elevation Partners are the kind of entrepreneurs Forbes has been covering for years. Truly, they are the right people at the right time.”

BP shuts down Alaskan oil line

In a sudden blow to the nation’s oil supply, half the production on Alaska’s North Slope was being shut down yesterday after BP Exploration Alaska Inc. discovered severe corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil-transit line.

A 400,000-barrel-per-day reduction in output would have a major effect on oil prices, said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo. “Oil prices could increase by as much as $10 per barrel given the current environment,” Mr. Emori said. “But we can’t really say for sure how big an effect this is going to have until we have more exact figures about how much production is going to be reduced.”

BOHICA! (Bend over, here it comes again.)

Whalen camp draws fire for farce

Lee Breard from Bruce Whelan’s Congressional Campaign pointed out some very dubious Wikipedia entries to a number of bloggers, including the Chief, along with a “regular” journalist type from the RC Journal who posted it in the paper’s Mt. Blogmore political blog.

The Chief frankly wondered why he bothered about it at all, given the wide-open nature of the Wikipedia, where anyone can make and/or modify articles without restraint. To my way of thinking this automatically forces one to run up a BIG caution flag about it’s “information”.

While Breard’s e-mail DID raise some degree of question about the topics noted in Woster’s article, bringing it up at all seemed to possibly be presenting them as having some degree of credability at least.

As Woster notes – not a good thing for Breard to have done, and it gives the Donks something to flog him about now – unfortunate, and MUCH better than Whalen deserves.

Raven Aerostar quits hot-air balloon business

Aerostar International, a subsidiary of Sioux Falls-based Raven Industries, is getting out of the hot-air balloon market.

A gradual decline in popularity of the recreational activity and rising liability insurance costs have made the hot-air balloon business unprofitable, Mark West, Aerostar’s president and chief engineer, said.

Aerostar, which Raven spun off in 1986, manufactures high-altitude research balloons, military parachutes, blimps, protective wear and advertising inflatables used in parades. The company will continue with its other lines.

The Chief has had the privilige of serving in the Sioux Falls Naval Reserve with Aerostar Pres. West as his Commanding Officer. West is an Annapolis grad, and later was a carrier pilot. IMHO he exemplified the very best that a Naval Officer could be.

The Chief recalls that he was an enthusiast for hot-air ballooning, but in the end apparently, business is ultimately business.

Thune not seeking GOP job

Sen. John Thune said Sunday that he would not seek the job as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a position seen as a springboard to the upper echelon of GOP Senate leadership. Thune confirmed in an interview with the Journal late Sunday afternoon that he had told Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, on Thursday that he would not run for the committee chairman’s spot.

Probably not a bad decision. Trying to achieve success with that job may be tough for the next couple of election cycles.

Thune hopes to attend some of those events while continuing his trips back to South Dakota on weekends to be with his family, make public appearances and meet with constituents. Added to a full work week in the Senate, that schedule wouldn’t offer much room for fundraising duties and campaign trips for other GOP candidates, Thune said.

But Thune said his decision now doesn’t mean he has given up aspirations for a leadership position. “This would have been one way to get on that track, but there are other ways, too,” he said. “Maybe there’ll be something down the road. We’ll see.”

Iran: We supplied Zelzal-2 to Hizbullah

Iran admitted for the first time on Friday that it did indeed supply long-range Zelzal-2 missiles to Hizbullah.

This is nominated for the “DUH!” of the year. At least the cards are on the table for sure now.

The Chief’s guess (hope?): if Tel Aviv gets hit Tehran won’t be far behind!

Hurricane season defying forecasts

In May, government forecasters predicted 13 to 16 tropical storms, eight to 10 of which could grow into hurricanes, during the six-month Atlantic hurricane season that started June 1. The hurricane center will update its forecast Tuesday.

If we can’t manage reliable forecasts for a period of several months, we’re supposed to believe that the decades-out forecasts of alleged “human-induced global warming” are a valid basis for costly if not ruinous political and economic policies?

Short answer: DON’T believe it. If we DO have global warming, look to the sun as the driver for it. By the way, the Chief wishes he had a buck ($) for every time recently he has noted some talking head on the tube talking about a possible ice age caused by global warming. (Talk about an example of Orwellian “doublethink”!)

The Brink of Madness
Although the Chief has previously noted aspects of the current situation and the parallels to the historical events of the 30’s. The Chief humbly admits to NOT achieving the standards of this piece by the redoubtable VDH from National Review, which is extremely alarming to anyone with half of a historical brain.

When I used to read about the 1930s – the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, the rise of fascism in Italy, Spain, and Germany, the appeasement in France and Britain, the murderous duplicity of the Soviet Union, and the racist Japanese murdering in China – I never could quite figure out why, during those bleak years, Western Europeans and those in the United States did not speak out and condemn the growing madness….it is still surreal to reread the fantasies of Chamberlain, Daladier, and Pope Pius, or the stump speeches by Charles Lindbergh (“Their [the Jews’] greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government”) or Father Coughlin (“Many people are beginning to wonder whom they should fear most – the Roosevelt-Churchill combination or the Hitler-Mussolini combination.”) – and baffling to consider that such men ever had any influence.

Not any longer.

Our present generation too is on the brink of moral insanity. That has never been more evident than in the last three weeks, as the West has proven utterly unable to distinguish between an attacked democracy that seeks to strike back at terrorist combatants, and terrorist aggressors who seek to kill civilians.

Read it and weep – and then get more bullets – you might need them!

Here are a couple of recent news items that have struck the Chief as having a somewhat weird?…strange?…whatever…quality from their juxtaposition.

Hezbollah’s Nazi Roots
Across the Middle East, radical Islamists yearn for a new Holocaust

This is NOT really very much news to a history buff like the Chief, who noted the historical collection when he posted this image in May 2005 as indicative of the direct historical linkage from das Reich to today’s Islamofascists:

Moslem Bosnian SS Troopers of the Handschar Div. on Parade in Sarajevo.

Sounding like a modern-day Hitler, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week repeated his call for the “elimination” of Israel, home to six million Jews. Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy army in Lebanon, shares that objective. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has urged the world’s Jews to collect in Israel in order to facilitate the task of exterminating them.

Sadly enough there is more to this…including photographs in this article (and elsewhere on the web) showing Hezball and Ham-ass goose-stepping around with Nazi salutes.

How does Sieg Heil go in Arabic? Which leads to the second story:

Olmert Favors German Forces

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would welcome German troops participating in an international force in southern Lebanon, according to a newspaper interview published Friday.

German officials have not ruled out contributing soldiers to a security force, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that “we as Germans should approach this region with the greatest caution.”

I guess so!

Man Says Sex With Kids a Sacred Ritual

A man accused of sexually assaulting nine boys with physical or mental disabilities told a judge that having sex with children is a sacred ritual protected by civil rights laws. Phillip Distasio, who said he is the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, represented himself at his pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is charged with 74 counts including rape, pandering obscenity to minors and corrupting another with drugs.

The Gospel of Mark, chapter 9:
36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,
37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me….
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Verse 42 sounds about right! That WOULD be better!

A quick survey of the Wednesday Argus-Loser Liar Leader gives a quick summary of some of SD politics at this time:

Rounds seizes heavy advantage
Lookin’ tough for Donk opponent Jack Billion.

Herseth has big lead in new poll; Bush approval down
Here’s a bit of consolation for the Donks.

State’s vote on abortion has national significance
Finally, here’s the Argus’ (and Daschle’s)own Dave Krantz commenting on the upcoming abortion vote.

Crossers burying border in garbage

Well, now we have the “garbage in”. Now we need to get the “garbage out”!

As if there already were not enough reasons to effectively close the border:

Cleanup crews from various agencies, volunteer groups and the Tohono O’odham Nation hauled about 250,000 pounds of trash from thousands of acres of federal, state and private land across Southern Arizona in 2002 to 2005, says the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. But that’s only a fraction of the nearly 25 million pounds of trash thought to be out there.

Illegal entrants should pick up the trash themselves, said Cindy Kolb, who helped found the group Civil Homeland Defense. “Our mothers did not pay someone to pick up our trash,” Kolb said. “We were taught to pick it up ourselves and to practice civic pride as law-abiding citizens.”

Sounds about right, but then that’s the problem, isn’t it…that bit about being “law-abiding citizens”. There’s no law-abiding, and no citizens involved in causing the problem.

Now we have the “garbage in”. Now we need to get the “garbage out”!

Doctor Charged in Drive-By Shooting

It strikes the Chief that there is more going on here than is being reported.

A doctor has been charged in the drive-by shooting of a bicyclist, who was hit in the chest and shoulder and is now recovering at the same hospital where the physician works. Dr. Wameeth Fadhli, a doctor at the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston, was jailed Thursday on $60,000 bond after being accused of firing numerous shots at the 22-year-old man on Tuesday.

“At this point, this looks like it could have been just a random shooting, and that makes it a pretty scary crime,” Assistant District Attorney Xochitl Vandiver said.

Random victim, sure enough!

Random perp? Dr. Wameeth Fadhli? (Arabic? Iranian? Whatever.) Ohhhh-kay. As the phrase from Fox goes: “We report, you decide!”

When the devil dislikes the stink of brimstone

Here’s the latest from one of the Chief’s favorite commentators, who uses the nomme de plume of Spengler.

It’s a bit like the devil disliking the stench of sulfur, but Iran’s leaders now complain that the United States has thrown the Middle East into chaos in order to reshape the region. That is a man-bites-camel story. With the exception of the late Yasser Arafat, no one has wielded the weapon of instability with greater skill than Iran. Israel’s disproportionate response to the July 12 Hezbollah provocation changed the rules of the game in the region. Whether the players have the presence of mind to exploit the new rules remains an open question.

He goes on to spell out the current state of affairs as it impacts the various players at the current game table:

IRAN:

“Israel is pushing the region into utter chaos,” warned the July 15 editorial in the Foreign Ministry daily Tehran Times, warning that America’s backing for Israel “will harm the whole world, from exacerbation of the global security situation to undermining the world economy.”…Iran now badly wants a ceasefire so that Hezbollah can claim a draw as a victory….”Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said that the United States has thrown the region into chaos to reach its ultimate goal of the new Middle East,” again according to IRNA.

ISRAEL:

A few Israeli analysts, although evidently not the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, understand the game. “In a way, we’re playing an old Palestine Liberation Organization game, to precipitate regional instability and then try to bring in international intervention,” Israeli defense analyst Michael Oren told the New York Times on July 24. Oren, author of the standard history of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, advocates an Israeli attack on Syrian armored divisions stationed on the Lebanese border.

Asefi and Oren understand the sea-change in the Middle East better than the US or Israeli government.

USA:

Washington’s best move would be an ultimatum to Tehran with a deadline for dismantling its nuclear-weapons program, followed by aerial attacks in the event of non-compliance. Rather than engage the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Washington should take the opportunity to destabilize it. Rather than attempt to hold together its Frankenstein monster in Iraq, it should partition the country. Sunnis and Shi’ites already are fleeing mixed neighborhoods and agglomerating into sectarian strongholds, and a broader population exchange is the best formula to suppress bloodshed.

YES! What a breath of fresh air!

In other words, in pursuit of its own best interests, Washington should do precisely what the Iranian regime fears that it may do. Tehran’s paranoia, of course, runs far ahead of Washington’s limited imagination. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is skating in tighter and tighter little circles attempting to limit the war. The US demand for a 48-hour halt in Israeli bombing runs in Lebanon to which Israel acquiesced expresses the delusional hope that Sunni Arab states can be enlisted to oppose Iran and Hezbollah.

Israel, in summary, remains in denial about the failure of its withdrawal policy since 2000, and Washington remains in denial about the absurdity of its plan to stabilize the Middle East through democracy. That gives Iran considerable wiggle room to press ahead from an inherently weakened position.

There’s more where this comes from – and is well worth a look for his analysis of the current fecklessness of American policy and tactics in the present mid-east environment. (SIGH.)

Iran Foreign Minister meets with French counterpart in Beirut

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is a main backer of Hezbollah, met his French counterpart in Beirut on Monday for talks on resolving the crisis in Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said earlier on Monday in Beirut it was important to maintain contacts with Tehran as part of efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been at war for nearly three weeks. France and Iran have called for an immediate ceasefire to halt the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

But of course…the Hisballers Hezbollah are in the process of getting their clocks cleaned – so OF COURSE a cease-fire is “needed” – anythiong to prevent an Israeli victory.

Iran is a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilizing role, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said earlier Monday in Beirut.

Sheesh! That’s like the Vichy regime saying that Germany was a stabilizing influence in Europe in 1941 – and apparently comes from the same perspective if not actual descendent Froggish appease-surrender DNA.

A Chief’s Eye View:

Obviously, at least to anyone with awareness greater than a knothole on the side of a tree, the war continues – and more people have gotten killed – including civilians.

Predictably enough, Israel is excoriated daily (nay, hourly!) for being so rude as to act on the two assumptions that the primary purpose of war is to kill people (the enemy) and break their things (their weapons AND infrastructure) that allow them to fight amd kill YOU. The other necessary assumption in war is that “shit happens” sometimes, and that when it does there is collateral damage and yes, unfortunately, civilians can be killed.

There has NEVER been a war where this has not occurred. In spite of the sguawking of the UN’s Kofi Onan Annan, and the MSM, Israel shows every sign pf planning to continue to get the job done.

Good for them – they’re doing the Lord’s work here, and if they can successfully de-fang His-ball and Ham-ass, they will deserve the gratitude of the rest of the non-Islamofascist world.

If doing so offends Syria and Iran with Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad, then so be it and bring ’em on!

Chief at ARRL HQ in CT last Week

Last week the Chief travelled to the HQ of the American Radio Relay League in Newington, CT. The ARRL is the national HAM radio society, and the occasion was a workshop on applying wireless technology in the classroom – and was a very worthwhile activity.

Ironically enough, the ARRL, the amateur RADIO group, had no wi-fi! Other than that, and a run in with the TSA at Sioux Falls airport that left the Chief almost feeling like a loser in a game of strip poker, it was a good trip.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad on IRINN TV

The Chief was surprised to discover that he actually agreed with Iranian President Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad on anything, even with a few qualifiers:

“In my opinion, Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity. Everyone must be put to the test. Everyone.”

Sounds sort of apocalyptic. He may well be right on this!

It is inconceivable for anyone who calls himself a Muslim and who heads an Islamic state to maintain relations under the table with the regime that occupied Jerusalem.

OK – clear enough – you are either with Israel or you are with the Islamofascists. The Chief concurs.

“This is a mirror that will reveal everyone’s true essence. This is not one of those ordinary tests. Not at all. It will expose everything.

A bunch of people with no honor rule some countries in the region. People are being killed before their eyes, while they play games, giving compliments to one another.

Yep – Iran and Syria are the countries. Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad has been looking in his mirror apparently.

They think they can let time go by until this issue is forgotten, and then return to the scene. No, they are mistaken.

A good case of psychological projection here!

“They even lie to those wretched people whom they have collected from around the world and brought to the occupied lands. In fact, their leaders are having a good time around the world. After all, they are not in the battlefield. They are outside the scene. They have collected a bunch of people and put them there to serve as their shields, so they can realize their colonialist, domineering goals.”

Dang! He’s spot on for describing the Islamofascist strategies and tactics again – especially his own!

World War What?

A bit more background and comment on the proposition of the war with Islamofascism as WW-III. Worth some attention and thought.

Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative

Conservative Godfather William F. Buckley has discovered that Prez Dubya is not really a conservative:

“I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology – with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress,” Buckley says. “And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge.

THe Chief had this figured out during the 2000 election, and saw it confirmed with the education bloat-bill deal with Kennedy early in 1981, and many subsequent actions (the McCain-Feingold Free Speech Limitation Campaign Finance Act, the pharmaceutical industry subsidy program, and others).

Why support him at all? Remember his opposition? ’nuff said.

Death of the Marine Corps – part 1, part 2, part 3

It’s a sad day when combat Marines are brigged on suspicion of war crimes based on unsubstantiated charges and complaints generated from within the Islamofascist (enemy!) community. IMO this situation is HIGHLY unsatisfactory. Euphoric Reality has a comprehensive summary of the history and current state of the circumstances of the events that took place in Hamdaniya, Iraq and the resultant planned sacrifice of 7 Marines and 1 Sailor on the Molochian Altar of Political Correctness by a feckless chain of command that has forgotten what it means to fight a WAR.

H/T to Misha at the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.

The Middle East Crisis – Local, Regional, and Global; Conventional and Nuclear

MEMRI has an instructive analysis on why there is not a close correspondance between the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the current war of Israel, notwithstanding the contrary suggestion from Iranian President and Caliph-wannabe Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad.

Tech Central Station is one of the Chief’s favorite sites. It invariably has a high concentration of thoughtful analysis of a diverse set of issues. It presents what can only be considered a “target-rich environment” for secondary commentators like bloggers.

There are so many interesting pieces on deck right now that one doesn’t know where to start, so a thumbnail type digest is in order, although the items are not (in any particular order):

Call Off the Dioxin Dogs

…the recommendations of the NAS’s National Research Council (NRC) review of the EPA’s latest draft report on dioxin could — or at least should — turn the entire cancer-rating system of the EPA (and other agencies) on its head.

Ooops! Feeding gallons of stuff to rats for years is NOT equivalent to trace exposures in the environment.

Vulgar Fractions and the Double-Effect

A clear-headed analysis of the issue of so-called proportionality as it applies to the Lebanese front of WW-IV.

Lead-Free Zeppelin

The moves against removal of lead from solder: NOT a good idea by any means!

How Do You Stop Rockets From a Hijacked State?

Back to Lebanon again (and again…). Austin Bay takes the issue of Hezbollah in Lebanon to its unmitigated logical conclusions:

Israel says disarming Hezbollah is one of its objectives. But to truly achieve that goal — to stop the rockets, in any permanent way — means ending Iran’s and Syria’s ability to hijack Lebanese neighborhoods. And that means holding Iran and Syria responsible for hijacking Lebanon and supporting Hezbollah’s rain of rocket terror. Holding Iran and Syria responsible may well mean taking the war to Tehran and Damascus.

Modern Stone-Age Family?

IT seems that some moonbat group calling itself the new economics foundation or nef (sic) has developed something called the “Happy Planet Index” which purports to rate the relative happiness of the inhabitants of the various nations of the world.

Unfortunately we in the United States are cursed to live in the 150th rated country. To be happy we should move to someplace like Cuba in 6th place, Vietnam 12th, Bhutan 13th and Sri Lanka 15th. With proper promotion, perhaps this could solve the US’s illegal immigration problem. The poor Latinos/Latinas obviously don’t know what they are losing by coming up norte.

Not ready to move to Cuba yet? Neither is the Chief. He’ll just keep toughing it out in the USA.

The GOP: Drinking Itself Sober

PART of what’s wrong with the national GOP these days:

The Three Deadly Republican Spending Rationalizations are:
1) “This program will be expensive, wasteful, and corrosive to the virtues that make a free society function, but it’s popular, and we need it in order to keep the Republican majority.”
2) “This program will be expensive, wasteful, and corrosive to the virtues that make a free society function, but it’s necessary in the name of national security.”
3) “This program will be expensive and wasteful, but it will actually improve the virtues that make a free society function, because it uses the power and affluence of a large central government to subsidize independence, self-discipline, decentralization, and the rejection of the welfare state mentality.”

Fortunately, there are some solutions offered also:

For these and my other political sins, Father, I ask for the voters’ mercy. What’s that? My penance is to abolish earmarking and to make the abolition of wasteful spending an immediate legislative priority? You want me to renew the push for the elimination of superfluous federal departments in order to devolve real power to the states? And you want me to take up the fight yet again for private Social Security investment funds in lieu of compulsory participation in the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme? You actually want me to act like small government is a moral good unto itself, and not just a means to the end of a strong economy?