Whoops! Now How Did That Happen? :)

Iranian nuclear facilities were the target of a cyber attack earlier this month.  Fox News has the story:

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/27/pentagon-silent-on-iranian-nuke-virus/ 

That will teach them for downloading porn while on the job.

Our Next Contender?

While we're tied down in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention dealing with jihadist within our borders; China's making a "great leap forward" to become the world's top dog.  Robert Kaplan of the Washington Post (WaPo), writes:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092404767_pf.html 

Of course China's neighbors aren't all that keen about this.  The Los Angeles Times has the story, here:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/26/opinion/la-oe-mcmanus-column-china-militarism20100926 

I love this comment made by the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, made to the Wall Steet Journal:  "America plays a role in Asia that China cannot replace."

I wonder if anyone in the Obama Administration is paying attention.

"No Ice Cream for You!"

The "food nazis" at Guantanamo Bay are rationing detainees' ice cream portions.  The Mail Online has the story of the latest "prisoner abuse:"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315347/Guantanamo-Bay-rations-detainees-ice-cream-portions.html 

I don't think this is cruel at all, but the a reflection of our current leadership's quest to "redistribute wealth."  Welcome jihadis to the Era of Hope and Change!

What's Okay to Burn vs What's Not Okay to Burn

In a play off Animal Farm's most famous line:  Some sacred objects are more sacred than others.  The kind soul in the above photo appears to be holding the remains of an American flag.  But woe betide any infidel who threatens to burn a Koran.  Mark Steyn rolls-in on the selective support of the US 1st Amendment by our leftward leaning leaders:

http://www.marksteyn.com/ 

Note:  The column Mollifying Muslims, and Muslifying Mollies, is currently the lead article.  Later this week the article may be moved to another spot on the website.

Personally, I could care less about a book held sacred by our enemies.  While I think book burning is antithetical to American culture, I'm not about to stop anyone from burning one.

One of my on-line friends made an excellent comment on this subject:

My take on this:

Book burning is repugnant when its purpose is to suppress the ideas in the book and prevent people from being fully informed. That is censorship. Which was the unfortunate case with what the U.S. government did when it discovered a shipment of Bibles, written in Pashtu, had been sent to a soldier in Afghanistan last year - the Bibles were burned for fear that the Afghans would see them and get upset. A very clear-cut case of censorship, and despicable.


However, burning a book as a means of speech, as in protesting the contents of it, is perfectly fine. The minister in Florida was not attempting to prevent people from reading a Koran - he was making a statement that the contents of that book were unacceptable for him. Perfectly legitimate. Would there be any sort of uproar if someone burned a copy of Mein Kampf or Mao's Red Book to make a political statement? I don't think so.


I find it extremely telling that the mere discussion of burning a book is enough for some Muslims to commit murderous terrorist acts over, whereas actualy attacks causing the deaths of thousands in the U.S. led to no such random madness. That says a lot about the relative value placed on life and reason between the cultures.

Meanwhile, Alan Dershowitz had this to say on the New York Times Opinion Pages:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/09/19/can-speech-be-limited-for-public-workers/a-dangerous-slippery-slope

We are on a slippery slope indeed.

Tea Party Win in Delaware Primary

Christine O' Donnell made a dramatic come-from-behind win in Delaware's primary election yesterday.  Of course, the mainstream media (MSM) is crowing about how this is a prelude to disaster for the Republican Party.

Yahoo News has the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100915/el_yblog_upshot/tea-party-victory-endangers-gops-goal-of-retaking-the-senate 

As usual, though, the MSM is missing the real issues, as my friends point out:

And of course, any defeat of ‘establishment’ candidates is being painted as some sort of GOP disaster.

I think it depends on the state. Erlich won in Maryland because he’s far more likely to win the blue areas of Monty County and Baltimore; Murphy would not have and most MD voters knew that. Erlich also, as far as I’m aware, has a pretty good reputation in the State.


In Delaware you had a GOP establishment guy with a voting record that was pretty much the same as any Democrat, which is why he was defeated.


But the media will spin on…

Yeah. I’m kind of hoping for a near 100% turnover in all of our elected representatives…Regardless of party affiliation.

I’m with you.  But, traditionally, third parties have only screwed things up for the bigger parties.  One exception was when Thurmond tried to derail Truman back when.  The demos won anyway.   I would like to see a new party sweep the board, but I really don’t think it’s gonna happen this time.   There are still too many politicians willing to compromise with principle to get themselves elected.

I too would like to see all the incumbents get ousted.  Regardless of which party they are currently in.  Our government is so inbred that all they are worried about is getting re-elected even if they have to compromise their principles.  Which is what we're seeing several Democrats do now, hoping they can say the right thing.  The thing I like about the Tea Party is it's Constitutional Conservatism and then standing up to anyone who doesn't stand for that.  I find it very interesting that the Democrats think we are stupid for beating out the incumbent Republican because he "had a chance to win" in November and now, apparently, we don't.  But they miss the point.  The point is the Republican was that only in name.  "A Moderate" as it were.  Like some how not having any convictions is a good thing.  The Democratic Party will continue to elect their representatives regardless of their moral character.  The Republican Party better wake up and realize that we're tired of it.  I think that's 7 Republican incumbents that have been kicked out of their "careers." 

I think a lot of the media people are completely missing the point that the establishment people with ‘flexible principles’ are being turfed out BECAUSE of that and not some sort of bitter clinger ideological freak out, which I’m sure the MSM will play up to the max.



As I said before, there’s a reason Erlich got the nominated but Castles didn’t. And too many are missing the “why.”


Totally agree with your comments about getting elected/retaining power. Eventually they lose track of why they are there in the first place.

Intelligence Hemorrhaging Continues Thanks to Wikileaks

(Image by Ramirez)

The collaborators at Wikileaks continues to aid and abet our enemies.  The site is planning on releasing additional documents, this time about our operations in Iraq.

Google has the news story:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jq2VtzgXpasjVDUDOBkdln6W8CyA 

Communism = Epic Fail!

(Image from Cartoon Stock)

The Carribbean "workers' paradise" of Cuba will be laying off about 1/2 million workers due to inability to sustain workers' $20/month salary. 

The New York Times (NYT) has the story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/world/americas/14cuba.html

We all noted that as other countries are trying to slow, halt, or even turn back from socialism/communism; the Obama Administration continues to press forward in "transforming America."

Some of today's comments included:

First the Chinese going all capitalist on us and now this. Welcome to the surreal world folks - the commies are sounding like hard core free market types when compared to those in our own government...

and

Perfect time to drop the embargo. All of these people will need jobs at Disneyland Havana...

finally,

I hope Obama reads this.

My guess is that he has, but as with the rest of his plans, that 2/3rds of Americans are against, I doubt he'll heed this warning.

Unlike previous 9/11 anniversaries, this year's rememberance activities are shadowed by controversy. The Jacksnonville National has the story:

http://jacksonville.com/news/national/2010-09-11/story/year-911-anniversary-marked-polotics-controversy

I like Michelle Malkin's call for continued resolve:

http://michellemalkin.com/

While Big Journalism reminds us of one of the best presidential speeches in our lifetime:

http://bigjournalism.com/mwalsh/2010/09/11/remembering-911-can-they-still-hear-us/

I wonder too, if our enemies can still "hear us."

As far as this year's issues swirling around 9/11 and Ground Zero, my $0.02 is this:

a. No triumphalist mosque should be built near the site of an Islamic terrorist attack, and

b. Burning books, even the sacred tomes of our enemies, should not be incorporated into American culture.

Koran Burning Called Off--Maybe

(Image from the movie Fahrenheit 451)

While the Big Apple is contending with the Ground Zero Mosque, the residents of the Sunshine State are dealing with a kooky pastor who wanted to ritualistically burn a Koran on September 11th.  He called off the event, but is now reconsidering...

From Yahoo News:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/quran_burning;_ylt=Amy.Qc76zhOyQiOyXVTOwh6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNkbHBrMDcyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTEwL3F1cmFuX2J1cm5pbmcEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwM0BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNwYXN0b3JjYW5jZWw-

As an aspiring writer, I'm detest the idea of burning books of any type--even ones from a political-religious idealogy I abhor. 
It sets a bad precedent and conjures up too many images like these:

Is He...Threatening Us?

Last night, Abdul Rauf, the man behind the Ground Zero Mosque, warned of a muslim backlash if he's not permitted to build the his Little Cordoba House in the Big Apple, from the NY Post:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/rauf_move_would_spur_muslim_backlash_vHnEtuAvT4ZAatCuzXDuGM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

"Not With a Bang..."

The USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay, is literally rusting away.

Yahoo News has the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100906/ap_on_re_us/us_endangered_warship 

I find this story incredibly sad.  While in high school, I joined the US Naval Sea Cadets.  During one of our training excursions, we took a side trip to see this ship.  It was a fascinating glimpse of a pre-dreadnought era warship.

What is especially frustrating is, that with our current ballooning deficit-spending, nothing will be done to keep a piece of our nation's history from disolving.

Or as Comrade Karla put it:

Mind you, we have billions for questionable, nonsensical projects but nothing for this, apparently.

A short history of the Battle of Manila Bay:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manila_Bay

Terrorist Dry-Runs: Nothing to Be Concerned About

Last week, two Yemeni men boarded a plane in Detroit bound for Amsterdam.  Both men had, what appeared to be explosive devices, in their stowed luggage.

The Examiner has the story:

http://www.examiner.com/homeland-security-in-national/tsa-and-usa-terrorist-dry-run-on-a-flight-out-of-detroit-a-success-for-the-bad-guys

However, since neither of these guys blew anything up, the Dutch let them go.

From CBS:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/01/netherlands-yemeni-arrest-conspiracy-terrorism.html

As exasperating as this is, we're no better than the Dutch.  Especially since a federal judge in Virginia threw out the case against 6 Somali pirates on similar grounds.  (See my "Dismissing Piracy" blogpost, 24 Aug 10).

Or as Comrade Karla says:

...it’s like with piracy—attempted piracy isn’t really piracy, so “practice” terrorism isn’t really terrorism.

Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake hits New Zealand

(Image:  Christchurch, New Zealand from Associated Press)

I was at work today when this earthquake hit New Zealand.  We knew within minutes when it happened but didn't hear of any damage until later in the day.  Fortunately, the quake didn't generate a tsunami.

From the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012800405_apasnewzealandearthquake.html 

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has the statistical data:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010atbj/ 

Presidential Priorities

Military and foreign policy issues, like the war in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, can be such a distraction to a president hell-bent on ruining America's power and economic well-being.

Charles Krauthammer rolls-in on these annoying disruptions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090203991.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

Jihadi Collaborators Rogues Gallery

Yesterday, David Horowitz's News Real Blog featured the "Top 10 Victories Against Free Speech."

Today, Joe Blough posts a detailed account of the top 10 enablers/apologists/collaborators/dupes who've aided and abetted creeping sharia:

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/09/02/top-10-islamo-fascist-apologists-1/

Free Speech: 0, Creeping Sharia: 10

Mark Tapson of News Real Blog came up with the "Top 10 Islamist Victories Against Free Speech:"

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/09/01/top-10-islamist-victories-against-free-speech-1/

Targeting the Tea Partiers

(Image by Foden)

In conjuction with today's previous post, the NAACP along with Media Matters, Think Progress and New Left Media are launching their "watchdog" group Tea Party Tracker.

Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller has the story:

http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/02/naacp-launches-%E2%80%98coalition-watchdog%E2%80%99-site-to-%E2%80%98monitor%E2%80%99-tea-party-%E2%80%98racists%E2%80%99/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The+DC+Morning&utm_campaign=Daily+Email&utm_term=3__29%2BProgressive%2Bgroups%2Bto%2Bdevote%2Bevery%2Bspare%2Bsecond%2Bto%2Bobsessing%2Babout%2BTea%2BPartiers%2B%2B 

In case you're interested in what the racist trackers are up to, here's the Tea Party Tracker's website:

http://www.teapartytracker.org/

I liked Andrew Breitbart's comment near the end:

“My trajectory from left to right was born of recognizing that my desire for a more integrated society and a more colorblind society ran afoul from the Democratic Party’s multicultural model which separates people into their different tribes and manipulates those different tribes for political gain...”

Liberals Play Their Tried & True Card (Over & Over Again)

(Click on image to enlarge and read the small print)

Roughly 2/3rds of Americans are against Obama's policies.  So what do liberals do?  Play their tried & true hand:  The Race Card.

Anyone against open borders, illegal alien amnesty, the Ground Zero Mosque; or anything else set by the liberal agenda is branded as a racist.  This is a cheap way of framing the arguement and shutting down debate.

Charles Krauthammer says it better than I can in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/20100830_Charles_Krauthammer__A_comeuppance_for_liberals.html 

What liberals don't realize is when the over-play their favorite card from the Deck of Political Correctness, they look like this:

State Dept Rats Out Arizona

(Image from Political Graffiti:  http://politicalgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/u-n-american/ )

Four days ago, the story broke about the US State Department submitting it's first report to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, discussing America's human rights issues--and highlighting the federal government's lawsuit against the Arizona's immigration law.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/27/brewer-condemns-state-department-mentioning-arizona-law-human-rights-report/

What upsets me is that any committee, or activity involving the UN often includes some, (or all), of the "usual suspects," like the two characters pictured above.

Michelle Malkin rolls-in on this subject:

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/09/01/arizona-vs-the-u-n-human-rights-police/