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Kick Assiest Blog
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Sunni revolt
Mood:
 energetic
Topic: News
More bad news for the lame-stream media, Demented-crats and libtards... Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads  AP Photo >>>
BAGHDAD -- An al-Qaida-linked suicide bomber struck a safehouse occupied by an insurgent group that has turned against the terror network. Friday's attack northeast of Baghdad killed two other militants, police said, the latest sign that an internal Sunni power struggle is spreading. The U.S. military also announced the deaths of five more servicemen. At least 126 American troops were killed in Iraq in May, the third-deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began more than four years ago. May was also the third-deadliest for Iraqis since The Associated Press began tracking civilian casualties in April 2005. At least 2,155 Iraqis were killed last month, according to the AP count. The Iraqi government put the number at 2,123, according to officials at the Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.  The explosion in Baqouba came as Iraqi and U.S. troops fanned out in the Sunni stronghold of Amariyah in the capital, enforcing an indefinite curfew after heavily armed residents clashed with al-Qaida in Iraq fighters, apparently fed up with the group's brutal tactics.
"Al-Qaida fighters and leaders have completely destroyed Amariyah," said Abu Ahmed, a 40-year-old Sunni father of four who said he joined in the clashes. "No one can venture out, and all the businesses are closed. They kill everyone who criticizes them and is against their acts even if they are Sunnis." Other residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, said the clashes began after al-Qaida militants abducted and tortured Sunnis from the area. That prompted a large number of residents, including many members of the rival Islamic Army armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, to rise up against the terror network. U.S. forces joined them in the fighting Wednesday and Thursday.  Ahmed denied being a member of any insurgent group but said he sympathizes with "honest Iraqi resistance," referring to those opposed both to U.S.-led efforts in Iraq and to the brutal tactics of al-Qaida.
With the insurgency appearing increasingly fragmented, Iraqi officials congratulated Amariyah residents for confronting al-Qaida. "Government security forces are now in control of the Amariyah district," Iraqi military spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi was quoted as saying by Iraqi state TV. He also lauded "the cooperation of local residents with the government." U.S. and Iraqi officials have claimed recent success in the effort to isolate al-Qaida, particularly in the western Anbar province, where many Sunni tribes have banded together to fight the terror network. A growing number of Sunni tribes have reportedly been turning against al-Qaida elsewhere as well, repelled by the terror network's sheer brutality and austere religious extremism.  The extremists also are competing with nationalist groups for influence and control over diminishing territory in the face of U.S. assaults, a situation exacerbated by the influx of Sunni fighters to areas outside the capital as they flee a nearly four-month-old security crackdown.
But the clashes in Amariyah appeared to be the fiercest fighting between Sunni groups in the capital. "I think this is happening because of al-Qaida's brutality," said Ehsan Ahrari, professor and specialist in counterterrorism at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. "They have been hurting the Sunni population in Iraq and that is coming back to hurt al-Qaida." "The event itself is significant because it looks like the U.S. is making some breakthrough in terms of establishing consensus with the Sunni population," he said. "Of course we have to hold our breath and see, but this is important no doubt."  Official casualty figures from the fighting in Amariyah were not available. But a local council member, who declined to be identified because of security concerns, said at least 31 people, including six al-Qaida militants, were killed and 45 other fighters were detained in the clashes. The council member also said an indefinite curfew was imposed starting at 6 a.m. on Friday, confining people to their houses.
The explosion in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, came as residents said al-Qaida was trying to regain control of the central Tahrir neighborhood from the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a group composed of officials and soldiers from the ousted regime who have allied themselves with local security forces against the terror network. Local police said at least two members of the rival insurgent group were killed. The bomber was affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq, according to police who would not be named because they feared they would be targeted.  Separately, the U.S. military announced that coalition forces killed six militants and detained 18 others in operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday and Friday.
Three children, ages 7, 9 and 11, were also killed Friday during a U.S. attack on suspected militants trying to plant roadside bombs in Anbar province, the military said. Nationwide, at least 32 Iraqis were killed or found dead on Friday, including 15 bullet-riddled bodies that turned up on the streets of Baghdad, apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by Shiite militias. The deadliest months in the past two years were December 2006, when at least 2,309 were killed, and November 2006, when at least 2,250 were killed.  The number of bodies found — usually attributed to sectarian death squads — dipped slightly in February 2007, immediately after the Baghdad security crackdown began Feb. 14, but has been steadily increasing in recent weeks. Since April 1, at least 1,974 bodies have been found across Iraq. At least 1,186 of these were found inside Baghdad, and 788 outside the capital.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that three American soldiers were killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad over the past three days. Another soldier died Thursday at a hospital in Maryland, two weeks after he was seriously wounded by a sniper while searching for American troops captured by al-Qaida-linked militants south of Baghdad.  The military also announced the death of a soldier from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest Shiite party, returned to Baghdad from Iran after completing the first phase of his treatment for lung cancer, according to the Web site of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq. Separately, the State Department said the publication of computer-generated projections for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad on an architecture firm's Web site would be a factor in future security considerations but would not affect the operation as a whole. "Obviously, the fact that some of this material has been out in the public domain is something our security folks will have to take into consideration as they move forward with construction and occupancy of the facility. But it hasn't in any fundamental way altered our plans," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington. AP writers Sinan Salaheddin and Bushra Juhi in Baghdad and AP's News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.
Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Kim Gamel ** Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads
Related: This Blog *** Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad
Washington Post ~ Associated Press - Anne Gearan ** U.S. Embassy in Iraq to Be Biggest Ever
Posted by yaahoo_
at 3:39 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 6:36 PM EDT
Surge
Mood:
 bright
Topic: News
We better put the Demented-crats on suicide watch... Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs CAMP LIBERTY -- The surge of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces into Baghdad neighborhoods is aimed at improving the security situation in the Iraqi capital. Yet, there are other programs benefiting by having more boots on the ground during Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon. “The surge has assisted civil military operations by putting more coalition eyes on the environment, so that we get a more responsive analysis of what essential services and economic development services are needed by the populace,” said Lt. Col. John Rudolph, the assistant chief of staff of civil military operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad. Rudolph said civil military operations in MND-B’s area of operation, which run the gamut from governance to agriculture to infrastructure to economic improvements, have already dedicated more than $163 million of Commander’s Emergency Relief Project (CERP) funds to projects all aimed at improving the quality of life for Iraqis living in and around Baghdad. “This really is about improving the quality of life for the Iraqis,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commanding general for support with MND-B. That “support” role not only touches the lives of the 50,000-plus troops working under MND-B, but also the Iraqi people. He said it’s challenging to move ahead with quality of life initiatives in the face of extremist efforts to stop them. “There is a perception that I’ve seen in every sector of this region we have responsibility for - when I talk to the Iraqis - that the Americans have the ability to put a man on the moon, and yet they can’t provide us with electricity,” Brooks said. “That whole idea of an expectation that we promised and haven’t delivered causes a great deal of problems.” Most westerners and Americans, for sure, cannot conceive flicking on a light switch on the wall and having it click with no effect. But, Baghdad has never had electricity flowing to its six million residents 24 hours a day. Electricity, or the lack thereof, was also tool used by the Ba’athist regime to reward or punish the population. “You saw areas favored by Saddam and his regime see power longer throughout the day, but they still didn’t get power 24/7,” Rudolph said. “They still had to use what they called the ‘generator men,’ who were entrepreneurs who had their own generators and supplied power to local neighborhoods for the ‘off power’ periods - even during Saddam’s period.” Rudolph said that providing power to Baghdad residents remains a priority, as witnessed by the 62 projects accounting for more than a quarter of the civil military operations funds dedicated this year – more than $44 million. The challenge to get the lights on throughout the Iraqi capital remains an ongoing issue. "It was an inefficient system to begin with and what we have done is by our electrification projects, in general, we’ve improved distribution so that the power that comes in is distributed more efficiently,” Rudolph said. “However, the level of available power goes down. It goes out to more places, but it doesn’t last as long.” Brooks said the provision of power to Baghdad neighborhoods remains a function of governance, and it will be the Iraqi government that will need to illuminate the Iraqi capital. “Our effort here has to be more than a physical one - to not only find ways to improve those systems physically, but also have to work back through that governance effort to ensure that people who are in positions of responsibility in government are not sectarian and are not biased in the delivery of essential services to all people,” Brooks noted.  Improved security in some areas of the city has allowed life to flourish for some Baghdad residents. Temporary barriers erected throughout the city have created what military officials call “safe markets” and “safe neighborhoods.” Rudolph said the market areas have benefited from the temporary barriers, keeping suicide car bombers at bay while allowing commerce to continue.
The marketplace in the Rusafa District in what is known as “Old Baghdad,” on the east side of the Tigris River, is one of those success stories. “Shoppers feel much safer going into the market now and they’ve actually seen an increase in the number of local citizens using that market,” Rudolph said. “It’s a perception, an attitude that the stigma of the random violence has lessened.” The Doura Market is often a stop for visiting dignitaries to Baghdad in the southern Rashid District. The 1st Cavalry Division’s 2nd “Black Jack” Brigade Combat Team from Fort Hood, Texas, conducted the initial assessment of the area and started the revitalization project there. Doura Market, Rudolph said, went from an unorganized street market of only a few dozen vendors to a thriving market place with more than 200 sellers now. He said the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., now operates in Rashid, and even more improvements are underway.  “4-1st Infantry is following up in their footsteps with a barrier plan just like Rusafa,” Rudolph said. “The shoppers (there) feel much safer in that environment. They’ve got solar-powered lights to provide security in the area. They have host nation security forces doing random patrols of the area, and because of these security measures more shops have opened up.”
Haifa Street, in the city’s center, west of the Tigris River, was once known as a hot-bed of extremist activity. It was a battleground for the 1st Cavalry Division when they operated in Baghdad in 2004-2005, and again earlier this year. The battleground is now a model neighborhood. “We’ve turned that around,” Brooks said. “Now, we have a thriving market area that is starting to grow and a revitalization process that will make the Iraqis really proud and recognize that things have improved.” All things start with security, Brooks said, but quality of life initiatives have been brought to life in areas of the Iraqi capital where the neighborhood and district advisory councils have worked in harmony for the good of their constituents.  “It’s where people in the neighborhood, people in the district recognize that they have needs and they’re the ones who should represent the people in that area,” Brooks said. “Mansour has a very active district council that is functioning very, very well, and our recent security operations have enhanced that, so they feel more and more secure.
“They still remain periodically threatened, though,” Brooks said. “You have to recognize that people who are performing well, especially in harmony, are often targeted by extremists who don’t want to see good governance to ever form here.” CERP funds are a “band-aid,” Rudolph said. They are a way for coalition forces to provide immediate aid where needed. But MND-B, in conjunction with the State Department, is looking at long-term solutions to many of the issues facing the residents of the Iraqi capital.  “They use training programs for business practices and they also do micro-grants and micro-loans, but those are ‘payments in kind,’ Rudolph explained. “If a business needed, say, a cash register to be able to transact business activities, they wouldn’t get the money to buy it. They would get a cash register. It’s the items they would need, not the cash. As much as security has improved, we still don’t want cash-flow going into the hands of the wrong parties. That’s the best means of addressing it.”
Brooks said MND-B has shifted its focus to long-term investments, versus short-term “band-aids” over the past three months.  “There’s been progress, but the approach that has been taken over the last several years for divisions like the 1st Cavalry Division was to find problems and fix them, and do it quickly,” Brooks said. “We’ve had success in that. But the reality is that it doesn’t leave an enduring systemic effect; so we’ve shifted our focus here over the last three months to look at the holistic system sewage on the west side of the river, for example, and identifying where the pump stations are, where the lift stations are, where the pipes that may be broken are, where there is standing sewage. Then, applying the resources, within the city of Baghdad and the government of Iraq, where they really matter.”
 By looking at the broader picture, and engaging the local, district and provincial governments, Brooks said long-term progress is possible.
“What’s changed, I think over that last few years, is how much the larger infrastructure has been revitalized,” Brooks said. “Water pipes have been replaced, electrical transformers have been installed, but it’s that last 100 meters worth of the service that really still has to become focused. Then people will really recognize a difference.” While on one hand, extremist elements are attempting to create chaos in the city streets and deter progress and quality of life initiatives, Brooks pointed in the other direction, to the American Soldier, and attributes much of the progress made to date in the Iraqi capital to the dedication of troops putting their boots on the ground to interact with residents and local officials.  “We wouldn’t have any of these successes; we’d have no progress if it weren’t for the contributions of our troops who are out there,” Brooks said. “We ask an awful lot of our Soldiers who are deployed over here. Certainly, we know we put them into harm’s way to accomplish whatever mission we set out to do. But their energy, their passion, their willingness to keep trying in the face of deliberate set backs at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of sometimes the Iraqis themselves - they’re out there every day and they keep moving forward.
“In all these areas, not only security, but in governance, it may be that the first, best way for people to come together is because an American Soldier encouraged a district council member to sit in the same room with another,” Brooks added. “And governance begins, then, with the passion and the heart of the Soldier in this country.” Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Master Sgt. Dave Larsen ** Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad
Related:
Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Spc. Amanda Morrissey ** U.S. Soldiers, Iraqis open wells in Ninevah Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer ** Senior leaders gather to help rebuild Iraqi NCO Corps This Blog *** Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads
Press Releases:
Let's wait and see how long it takes for this headline to reach the front page of the NY Times or the Washington Post. I'll be watching the sky for pigs flying, and checking the Weather Channel for snow flurries in Hell. What does this guy know? He's actually there. We need libtards in New York and Washington to tell us this isn't working, as usual.
Posted by yaahoo_
at 2:12 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 6:38 PM EDT
Friday, 1 June 2007
Wrong organ
Mood:
 d'oh
Topic: Funny Stuff
Musician canned for focus on wrong organ   NEW FRANKEN, Wis. -- A Catholic priest has removed his church's organist and choir director from her duties saying her sale of sex toys was not "consistent with Church teachings."
Linette Servais, 50, played the organ and sung with the choir for 35 years. Much of her work as choir director and organist was done without pay. When her parish priest asked to meet with her, she thought it was to say thank you. Instead, she was told to quit her sales job with company known as Pure Romance or she would lose her position in the church. Pure Romance in Loveland, Ohio, is a $60 million per year business that sells spa products and sex toys at homes parties attended by women. It has 15,000 consultants like Servais. She said her decision was not hard: She began working with Pure Romance after a brain tumor and treatment left her sexually dysfunctional. The job allows her to help other women who have similar problems. "After I got over the initial shock, I prayed over this a long time," she said. "I feel that Pure Romance is my ministry."  The Rev. Dean Dombroski felt differently, removing her from the choir loft just before Thanksgiving and gradually taking away other church duties. Servais can no longer take pictures during First Communion services or lead the committee planning St. Joseph's annual late-summer picnic.
Dombroski said he couldn't discuss the situation because it involves personnel. But in a letter to his rural congregation, he wrote: "Linette is a consultant for a firm which sells products of a sexual nature that are not consistent with Church teachings. Because parish leaders are expected to model the teaching of our faith ... she could stay on as the choir director/organist or she could continue to be a consultant but she could not do both." Servais responded with her own three-page letter to church members, saying she felt compelled to help other women, especially those suffering from problems caused by cancer. Many choir members quit in support, she said, and some have gathered at her home on occasional Thursdays to sing hymns.  "Father Dean made it sound so sinful," she said. "There is so much more to this business than toys."
Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Boston Globe ~ Associated Press ** Musician canned for focus on wrong organ
Posted by yaahoo_
at 3:02 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 1 June 2007 3:30 AM EDT
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Cease-Fire
Mood:
 chatty
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff
 Huge Story Alert!
Bad Guys Want Cease-Fire in Iraq? Big, big news the Drive-Bys and Democrats want to ignore: The enemy is talking cease-fire in Iraq. Listen To It!  WMP | RealPlayer  Audio clips available for Rush 24/7 members only -- Join Now!
 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: "U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals. 'We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces,' Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad. 'It's just the beginning, so we have a lot of work to do on this,' he said. 'But we have restructured ourselves to organize to work this issue.'"  Now, this is a huge. If you're talking about a cease-fire here, this is something that results from strength. It is not something that results from weakness. I'll tell you what the Democrats are going to say. I know how they're going to spin this. We'll probably get a statement from Dingy Harry, if they even refer to this. They may not, since the Drive-Bys are doing their best here to keep this news story sequestered. But I think what Dingy Harry will say, "Well, this shows the weakness of the US position. We have to negotiate cease-fires with the enemy to stop our brave soldiers from being killed. We can't defeat them, and this proves it." That's what he'll say. That's what they're trying to spin right now. Then of course somebody might add, "they will break the cease-fire."
Of course, Dingy Harry won't say that because our enemies are honorable. We're not. But if Dingy Harry does say something like this he's going to further go down the road of being a pathetic laughingstock. It's when you negotiate from strength, that's the road to victory. If they're going to reach out -- I guess they already have reached out for a cease-fire to stop the violence in Iraq. I guarantee you this is not our idea. We're not the ones offering the cease-fire. We're going to see if they want to because apparently some signals have been sent from the bad guys that that is what they want to do. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Theresa in Waukegan, Illinois. Isn't that where Jack Benny was from? CALLER: I believe so. RUSH: How are you? CALLER: I'm fine. Thank you, Rush. I am so excited to be able to talk to you. I tell you whenever I'm down about the country, all I have to do is wait until Rush comes on every afternoon Monday through fry and I'll feel better about our country. RUSH: I appreciate your saying that. What is it that makes you down on the country, or makes you feel that way? What happens to make you start thinking that way? CALLER: Well, because of the idiotic things that you hear that our leaders are doing and our Congress, our president, the military leaders -- which is why I was calling -- and all these yahoos out here who have got everybody convinced of all the things you've been saying about Hillary, and I'm, like, going, "I'm the one who's stuck in the middle. You guys want to take my money. You guys want to take our money. What's left to feed my family?" and me, I worry about the terrorists. I have to take care of my own kids because the government isn't going to take care of it. (groan) RUSH: But, see, it's working. They are trying to make you feel as miserable as they do. CALLER: Well, that's why I listen to you because -- RUSH: Well, thank goodness you have me, because if you didn't have me, this stuff would overtake you and you'd be throwing up your hands in frustration, wondering, "What's the point of it all?" CALLER: Exactly! Exactly. That's why I was calling, because now I hear, who are these military commanders who are talking to the terrorists? I mean, what kind of military strategy is that? I thought -- RUSH: Wait. You're talking about this cease-fire business?  CALLER: Yeah!
RUSH: Now, wait. When you saw that story, what was it that made you think that's happening because the United States has a weakened position there? CALLER: Oh, I didn't think we had a weakened position. I didn't understand why they were because we are on the good side, you know? We are the strong one. RUSH: Do you understand how huge this is, that the bad guys want to talk cease-fire? CALLER: Yeah, I think that maybe we ought to go down there and beat them some more until they scream some more, you know? RUSH: Oh, okay, so you want to wipe 'em out now that they're talking cease-fire and you don't understand -- CALLER: Oh, yeah! RUSH: Okay. CALLER: Oh, yeah! That's a sign that they're ready to give up. That's just a sign for us to be harder. RUSH: Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't go so far as to say it means they intend to give up, but it does indicate a much weaker position that they are holding than is being reported, of course, by the Drive-Bys. CALLER: Exactly. But wer'e talking to them. Well, why don't the police just talk to the criminals and say, "Hey, why don't we just... You know, let's not have any more gang bang murders, okay?" They don't do that. They go out there and arrest them. That's what our military should be doing! They shouldn't be talking to these criminals and terrorists. RUSH: (Chuckles.) You befuddle me. We have a situation here. You can't compare this to local crime. We have declared hostilities here. CALLER: Yes, but I read that same article -- RUSH: Wait. Wait a minute, now. In previous wars that we've had, when the bad guys wanted to surrendered, we talked to them. CALLER: Uh-huh. RUSH: We issued terms of surrender and so forth, and that's what's being discussed here. There are terms of surrender being determined and thought about, how they could be proposed and so forth. Now, in past -- like in World War II -- the Japanese surrendered after we did do what you suggest we do here, you know, Nagasaki, so forth and so on. The big difference with this is that this indicates a show of weakness. We're trying to preserve the Iraqi government and have it grow and so forth. The big thing here to me is that this runs totally counter to what the daily Drive-By news is every day, and that is that we're getting shellacked, that we're getting creamed, and it's hopelessly lost. Dingy Harry has already said so. We can't win this thing -- and all of a sudden the bad guys want to talk about a cease-fire. CALLER: Yeah, exactly. RUSH: It may be a trick, but the reason they're talking about a ceasefire is because we're doing what you want; it just isn't being reported. We must be kicking butt big time! It just may not be reported in a way that you know about it, but they're not coming along and saying, "Okay, we'll talk ceasefire," because they're winning. It's just the opposite. This kind of stuff happens when you occupy the position of strength. I fully expect the Democrats to spin this and to suggest that the administration "wants to give up and admit defeat. It's the only way to save our brave soldiers from dying," and all that. I'm waiting for that to happen, by the way.  BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Folks, there is another possibility for this cease-fire, a little float that the terrorists are engaging in here in Iraq, and it could simply be this. It could be something totally unrelated to our analysis up to this point. The terrorists suggesting that they're interested in talking cease-fire could simply be their way of telling the Democrats in this country that they're unhappy with the Democrats providing more funding without a withdrawal timetable. The terrorists might have looked at the latest vote in the House where the Democrats retreated from retreat and surrendered from surrender and said, "Well, my gosh, we've lost our allies in Washington. As long as we're going to support 'em, we're going to hang tough over here. We're going to try to beat Bush for them," and so forth, as long as they come up with a definite withdrawal date to get the army outta here. But now the Democrats have caved, and so the terrorists are saying, "Well, we don't know where bin Laden is. Zawahiri is a nonfactor. We're all over the place in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Jihad is not the organized thing it used to be. Now we've lost our big allies, the Democrats, what are we going to do?" It could be that, ladies and gentlemen. END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
Breitbart: Cease-Fire Eyed to Stop Violence in Iraq
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
RushLimbaugh.com ** Bad Guys Want Cease-Fire in Iraq?
Posted by yaahoo_
at 8:03 PM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 31 May 2007 8:44 PM EDT
Algore
Mood:
 spacey
Topic: Lib Loser Stories
Algore Wants Chavez-style Fairness Doctrine | |  RUSH: CBS, on the Early Show today Harry Smith was talking to former vice president Algore. Gore says, "The element of television that I think has been troubling for democracy, now that it's become the most dominant media by far even with the rising importance of the Internet is that it's one way." Harry Smith says, "Radio is one way. If you look back, some of the greatest presidents of our democracy or the republic happened during the age of radio. That was one way."
GORE: Simulates two-way communication by having -- having call-ins, but you're quite right, that radio preceded television as the first broadcast medium.
SMITH: Right.
GORE: And the first concerns among defenders of democracy arose with radio, and that's why the equal time provision and the Fairness Doctrine and the Public Interest Standard were put in place here. Those protections were almost completely removed during President Reagan's term.
 RUSH: I've had this in the stack for a while here, and it's time to get to this. Gore makes this false claim that, "radio is two-way now, simulates two-way communication by having call-ins, and but quite right, radio preceded television, and the first concerns among defenders of democracy arose with radio. That's why the equal-time provisions and the Fairness Doctrine," and all that were put in. Robert Tracinski, Real Clear Politics, back on May 23rd had a piece called, "Al Gore's Insolent Assault on Reason." It's about his book, which, by the way, has been outsold the first week by Ronald Reagan's diaries. Reagan's diaries, the latest book scan, outsold Algore's book by five copies, which means that the Algore people will no doubt be demanding a recount on this.
 "Early coverage of Al Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason, has focused on the fact that the book is largely an assault on the Bush administration. But they have glossed over the most significant and alarming theme that Al Gore has taken up: his alleged defense of 'reason' includes a justification for government controls over political speech. Judging from the excerpts of Gore's book published in TIME, his not-so-subtle theme is that reason is being 'assaulted' by a free and unfettered debate in the media--and particularly by the fact that Gore has to contend with opposition from the right-leaning media." Now, this piece goes on and on and on. I'll tell you, it makes the point that I've tried to make over and over and over again about liberals. To them there is no debate; there is no alternative point of view. Anybody who expresses one is simply a gnat or a fly that has to be swatted away, not engaged. You don't debate your opposition because there isn't any. They are just a bunch of kooks. And they, the opposition, me, we are the ones getting in the way of reason.
 "Developing a dangerous theme that the left has been toying with for years, Gore says that reason is being suffocated by 'media Machiavellis' -- that's a veiled reference to Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and Bush political advisor Karl Rove, the twin hobgoblins of the left. According to Gore, these puppet-masters take advantage of 'the clever use of electronic mass media' to 'manipulate the outcome of elections.'" It's sort of like Time magazine back in 1994 did a cover story with me, of course, on the cover, "Is there too much Democracy in America?" Can there be too much democracy? Meaning, all of a sudden the libs have lost their monopoly, and here come these alternative points of view. "No, that's not what we're thinking. That's just getting in the way here. Too much democracy."
"Now here's the really ominous part. This 'manipulation' is rendering our representative government 'illegitimate' because it only has the public's 'consent' -- he repeatedly puts 'consent' in scare quotes, just to emphasize the point that this  consent is not, in Al Gore's superior judgment, genuine or legitimate. As he puts it, 'the "consent of the governed" [has become] a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder.'" He simply doesn't like the arena of ideas. He doesn't like people in the arena of ideas competing and trying to win the day on ideas. His ideas are what should dominant and anything that threatens them must be swatted down with government control. That's why he is for the Fairness Doctrine.
"His new argument doesn't do anything to reverse that impression. His basic theme seems to be: if the left isn't winning in the marketplace of ideas, there can't possibly be anything wrong with their ideas. It must be the marketplace itself that is 'broken,' and the left needs to use the power of government to fix it--in both senses of the word 'fix.' This is by no means a new theme on the left; Noam Chomsky has been peddling this stuff for years. We only think that we are free to write and to speak and to make our minds up for ourselves, the left tells us. But behind the scenes we're being manipulated by the big corporate media, so the votes we cast and the consent we give to those who govern us is artificially 'manufactured.' We need to be liberated -- by having the left take control of the media and manage it in our best interests." |  |
| | So that's the way to translate this sound bite from Algore. What's really bugging him here is that there is an alternative point of view that's gaining traction, and it's persuading a lot of people that his global warming hoax, which is his latest religion, is having trouble getting traction with the majority of the American people. So his idea is not to go out there and continue to try to persuade people he's right, his idea is to shut down the people who are standing in the way of reason. He, of course, is reason, nobody else is, and by the way, he's not alone. This is pretty much the attitude of most liberal Democrats today, be they elected or not. This is Dave in Lynnwood -- what is that, Michigan? Is that right? Welcome, Dave. Nice to have you on the EIB Network.
 CALLER: Rush, it's an honor.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, if Algore wants to cite Ronald Reagan to sell the case for the Fairness Doctrine, I think we ought to bring our former president on posthumously, and I think he could clean his clock.
RUSH: Oh, there's no question, if you ran Reagan as a corpse, you mean?
CALLER: Well, you know, let's have powerful media types start it out. You know, let's run some spots with Reagan citing government as being the problem and, you know, whatever --
RUSH: At first I was saying, what is this? We're not going to run corpses here, but you have raised an interesting point. The point is, the antidote to all these Democrat candidates is Reaganism, which is conservatism. All these guys, Obama and Hillary and whoever else, are going to raise taxes, want to grow the government, not to mention what they're trying to do with this immigration bill. They want to increase the redistribution of wealth. They want people to be poorer. They want to take wealth and opportunity for income away from people, and the antidote to this is exactly the kind of things Reagan said. It's mystifying to me that so many Republicans today remain unwilling or maybe even embarrassed -- well, it's not totally mystifying, whether embarrassed to invoke Reaganism, it's simply the Drive-By just kills them in Washington. In fact, we have some JFK quotes that precede Reagan. JFK I guess in '62 made a speech in the fall of the Economic Club of New York making the case for his big tax cuts. I swear if you listen to these, you're convinced you're listening to Ronald Reagan. We've played those sound bites over the course of this program's many, many stellar years of broadcast service to mankind, and when we do, liberal Democrats call here and are outraged, and they tell me that I don't have the right to play JFK's words. "Who are you? You're a Republican. You can't take his words and appropriate them for yourself." I'm an American, he was the president, and he was right. They just don't want to hear Democrats talk that way. It's funny. | | |
| |  BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Stockton, California, this is Robert. You're next on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Good program, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: You know, do you find it kind of interesting that Algore's comments come, as well as the Fairness Doctrine, all this is coming just as Hugo Chavez is shutting down media in Venezuela?
RUSH: Oh. Oh, let me tell you something about this. You will not be able to believe this story. The Drive-By Media is making excuses for what Chavez is doing because this TV station has ripped him and supported a coup against him. Here it is. It's Bart Jones, who spent eight years in Venezuela, mainly as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press. And he says this. "Would a network that aided and abetted a coup against the government be allowed to operate in the United States?" Well, yes, it happens every day. What do you think the Drive-By Media has been trying to do for five years, if not sponsor some kind of a Democratic coup against George W. Bush? But this guy goes on to praise Hugo Chavez for standing up to this TV station because they tried to oust him, they tried to run a coup against him. Well, what do you expect? So he has a lot of support, and the Democrat Party in this country has a lot of support. Because he hates Bush. And they hate Bush. So any friend of theirs, anybody hates Bush, whether they're an enemy of the country or not, is a friend of the Democrats and a friend of liberals. But you're right. What Hugo Chavez is doing nationalizing TV stations and shutting them down is the Venezuelan version of Algore's Fairness Doctrine. | | END TRANSCRIPT |
Posted by yaahoo_
at 5:49 AM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 31 May 2007 7:05 AM EDT
Taxes
Mood:
 silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories
Demented-crats Want to Raise Taxes| |  RUSH: "The Democratic presidential candidates want to raise your taxes. Most of them aren't exactly advertising that fact when they talk about their plans for health care, the environment and education." This is ABC.com. "But for a party that has long feared political fallout when talking about taxes, the Democrats' 2008 crop of presidential contenders is showing remarkable frankness in talking about the need for additional revenues to fund their priorities." We don't need any additional revenue. Remarkable frankness. The Drive-Bys just love it when you start talking about raising taxes. It doesn't matter the circumstances and it certainly doesn't matter what the result will be. Yet, we're going to raise taxes. Remarkable frankness. How can they be speaking with remarkable frankness if they aren't exactly advertising the fact that they're talking about raising taxes? Those two phrases appear in one paragraph.
 "Sen, Barack Obama, D-Ill., became the latest candidate to call for higher taxes Tuesday, when he unveiled his plan for universal health coverage." Look, I can do this much simpler. I can do this much more cogently, much quicker than reading a Drive-By Media story to you. When I go through it this way, you might think that it is an absurdity, but it is not. This is real, it's straight from the playbook. This is real liberal thought. Obama has a plan for universal health care, and the plan is to roll back tax cuts for the rich. That's it. The New York Times has a plan to fix the alternative minimum tax mess, and that's roll back the tax cuts for the rich. Mrs. Clinton has a plan to fix income inequality, and that is to roll back tax cuts for the rich. Before long, I'm certain one of the liberals will come up with a plan to make us energy independent, and the plan to make us energy independent will be -- dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut -- to roll back the tax cuts for the rich.
 They go down the tubes each and every time they talk about this. Clinton, in fact, you go back to 1992 during the campaign, promising everybody a middle class tax cut, and then within a week or two after he was inaugurated, he has this press conference, or this address from the oval orifice, and he said, (Clinton impression) "I've worked harder than I have worked on anything in my life. I have never, ever worked harder on anything. I can't come up with a way to give you a middle class tax cut. In fact, I'm going to raise everybody's taxes. I'm going to make 'em retroactive." (Laughing.) He did this after he was in the Oval Office. Mondull tried it in his acceptance speech, Democrat National Convention in San Francisco, he said, "President Reagan is going to do exactly what I'm going to do, the difference is, he won't tell you, and I will. I'm going to raise your taxes." So long. He lost in a 49-state landslide.
END TRANSCRIPT | | |
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.Rush Limbaugh.com ** Democrats Want to Raise Taxes
Posted by yaahoo_
at 5:27 AM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 31 May 2007 6:17 AM EDT
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Chase Ringwall
Mood:
 special
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff
After Crash, Boy Had No Time For Tears, 9-Year Old Saves Lives of Sister, Mother  By Christine Byers
Chase Ringwall (front), 9, sister Maya, 2, (center) and mother Susan.
 DITTMER -- Chase Ringwall, a 9-year-old who rescued his mom and baby sister from a car accident, remembers the sound of his mom's SUV crashing into the ground nose first.
"It sounded like 15 cannons," he said. It was 10:30 a.m. Saturday and he, along with his 2-year-old sister, Maya, and mother, Susan Ringwall, were on their way to the Grandview School District campus so Chase could get his baseball league pictures taken. Less than a mile from the school, the front right tire of their vehicle slipped off Highway C in west-central Jefferson County.  Chase remembers his mom trying to regain control of the Jeep Cherokee. Instead, she swerved onto a curve in the road that acted more like a ramp, propelling the SUV over a barbed wire fence.
She lost consciousness when the vehicle hit the ground, but Chase remembers everything. The car rolled over and came to a stop on its roof. Chase screamed: "I'm alive! I'm alive!"  His mother was dangling by her seat belt. "Her head was in a pool of blood," he said. "I thought she was dead."
The stereo, however, didn't miss a beat. A Sublime CD still was playing. "And there was an unexplainable mist everywhere," Chase said, adding that he now thinks it was residue from the air bags. He knew he had to do something.  "Are you OK, Maya?" he asked his sister.
"Yeah," she said. Chase unfastened his seat belt, and then crawled under his sister's seat, unfastened her belt and let her fall onto him instead of the broken glass that had collected beneath her.  She then crawled on top of her brother's outstretched arms out of the car through a window. He told her to stay put. And she listened. "I was so surprised I didn't cry, because I wanted to the whole time," Chase said. "But I'm even more surprised that Maya cooperated. She never, ever, ever, ever cooperates with me."
He then tried but couldn't free his mother.  So he ran up the embankment and began waving to drivers for help. A couple, whom the family still doesn't know, stopped.
"The man had a pocket knife and cut her seat belt off," Chase said. Susan Ringwall regained consciousness in the field near the car, but was confused and couldn't remember where she was going or what the date was.  An ambulance took the family to Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Within about five hours, all were released and back home in Dittmer. Police interviewed witnesses who talked about Chase's actions after the crash.
Chase returned to school Monday. He has a bruise on his neck from the seat belt. And his neck and back are sore. His mom has about five stitches holding together a 2 1/2-inch gash on the back of her head. Maya has only a few bruises. And Chase's father, Leif Ringwall, said he has a lot to be proud of. "I drove by that site, and what scares me is that there were no skid marks and no one was there to see it," he said. "I could have very easily driven past it and never known there was an accident. I believe my son saved their lives because no one would have known they were down there."  "Yeah," Susan Ringwall said. "He really saved the day."
"No," her husband said. "He saved your life." Robert Kelly of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
cbyers@post-dispatch.com | 636-500-4106
St. Louis Post-Dispatch ~ Christine Byers ** After crash, boy had no time for tears Way to go, Chase! 
Posted by yaahoo_
at 2:17 AM EDT
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Phat-waa
Mood:
d'oh
Topic: Funny Stuff
Terror leader arrested while having car sex near Arafat's grave,
The Goat was unable to be reached for comment... Terror leader arrested having car sex near Arafat's grave Israeli forces raid jeep of longtime wanted militant caught in compromising position  RAMALLAH -- Israel today arrested a longtime wanted terror leader here in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
According to Israeli security officials and Palestinian sources in Ramallah speaking to WND, the terrorist was arrested while having car sex just a few hundred feet from late PLO leader Yasser Arafat's gravesite. Khaled Shawish, an officer in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Force 17 presidential guards, was captured by undercover Israeli police forces following scores of shooting attacks he is suspected of carrying out. Shawish, who doubles as the Ramallah chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, previously boasted of involvement in a West Bank shooting attack in December 2000 that killed Israeli ultranationalist leader Benjamin Kahane and Kahane's wife, Talya.  The Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party.
After the Kahane murder, Shawish was extended refuge by Arafat to live in the late PLO leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Arafat is buried at the entrance to the Muqata. Shawish continued the past seven years to live in the Muqata, from which, according to Israeli security officials, he directed the Brigades to carry out scores of shootings against Israelis driving on West Bank roads. Several years ago Shawish sustained an injury during a gun battle with the Israel Defense Forces and has since been confined to a wheelchair, although he is still able to drive. According to Israeli security officials and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades sources in Ramallah, Shawish was arrested after the Israeli police stormed his jeep, which was parked in a lot outside the Muqata, about 200 feet from Arafat's grave. The sources said at the time of his arrest, Shawish was having intercourse in the back seat of his jeep with a Palestinian woman, whose identity is being withheld by WND. The woman was not his wife. The Brigades, founded by Arafat, largely considers the late PLO leader's resting place to be a sacred site. Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief, is known for his regular interviews with Mideast terror leaders and his popular segments on America's top radio programs.
World Net Daily ~ Aaron Klein ** Terror leader arrested having car sex near Arafat's grave Uhm... Maybe they were playing 'Hide the Pipe Bomb'... Just couldn't wait for those 72 virgins, I guess. I wish there was a picture of the woman, so her neighbors could see her, invoke sharia law and stone her to death. Jihad martyrs deserve their martyrdom!
Posted by yaahoo_
at 6:07 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 29 May 2007 6:24 AM EDT
Monday, 28 May 2007
Kim Jong-ill
Mood:
chatty
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff
Kim Jong-ill... Rumors Say Kim Jong-il's Health Deteriorating  South Korean intelligence officials are investigating information that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health has deteriorated recently, a source said.
"The National Intelligence Service has obtained information that the reclusive leader Kim's diabetes and heart disease have been worsening. This information is more reliable than former rumors," a government official said. "It is known that U.S. intelligence officials are also looking into similar information," the official added.  Kim was born in 1942 and is 66 years old this year. He has conducted official activities 23 times from January 1 to May 27 this year, which is half the number of activities he led by this time last year.
The North Korean leader's most recent official activity was a visit to a military base on May 5, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. But since North Korean media usually report Kim's activities later than when they actually occur, it is believed that Kim has not been involved in any official activities since the beginning of this month. Many experts say Kim's worsening health will ignite a fierce power struggle between his sons, Kim Jong-nam, who was born to the late Sung Hae-rim, and Kim Jong-chul and Kim Jong-woon, both born to the late Ko Young-hee. (englishnews@chosun.com)
Digital Chosun Ilbo ** Rumors Say Kim Jong-il's Health Deteriorating
Posted by yaahoo_
at 4:23 PM EDT
Charlie Sheen
Mood:
chatty
Topic: Lib Loser Stories
CHARLIE SHEEN RETHINKS NUTTY 9/11 FILM  Support for the loopy 9/11 documentary "Loose Change" - which argues that the World Trade Center terror attack was part of a secret U.S. government conspiracy - is quickly losing steam.
A source tells us Charlie Sheen "is having second thoughts" about being involved in an updated version of the flick, which has a huge following on YouTube. As Page Six reported in March, Sheen had agreed to narrate the ridiculous flick, presumably to give it some needed Hollywood sizzle. The conspiracy documentary got a further boost earlier this month when Virgin Atlantic announced it would offer the current, narration-free version as an in-flight movie choice. But just days later, it scrapped the idea. "After Virgin announced it, bloggers went nuts and there was so much negative feedback that [the airline] a few days later nixed it," the source said.  After we revealed Sheen's participation, the "Two and a Half Men" star told Extra: "It's a story that needs to be told. It's a story about the truth, and the truth needs to be exposed. It's not just me, not just the Hollywood community [that] is standing up saying what you have given us doesn't make sense. We just want better answers." As for Sheen now pulling his support, the star's flack, Stan Rosenfield, did not return calls over two days.
Another proponent of the "Loose Change" theory is Rosie O'Donnell, who trumpeted her feelings about it on "The View" and her blog, making ABC brass nervous and infuriating some viewers.  O'Donnell reportedly had booked the film's producers, Korey Rowe and Dylan Avery, on Thursday's show. But after getting into a fight with Elisabeth Hasselbeck Wednesday, and after her chief writer was caught defacing Hasselbeck's photos with mustaches, O'Donnell left the show.
"Loose Change" pushes the widely debunked "controlled demolition" theory, which claims the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade Center were blown up from within. It alleges the jet-fuel fires inside the towers weren't hot enough to melt the buildings' steel beams. Those claims were soundly refuted by Popular Mechanics magazine, which meticulously shot down every single one.  New York Post ~ Page Six ** Sheen Rethinks Nutty 9-11 Film
I wonder why Sheen would pull out. Perhaps he was afraid that he'd have to go on
"The View" to promote the film, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck would challenge him.
Or maybe Rosie O'Donut was behind it.
Posted by yaahoo_
at 3:44 AM EDT
Updated: Monday, 28 May 2007 3:49 AM EDT
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AP Photo >>>
The military also announced the death of a soldier from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Wednesday. 
