Pickering Appointed

Pickering Appointed

FOXNews.com - Politics - Bush Gives Recess Appointment to Pickering

More Bad News For the Dems: Iraqi Uranium - Yellowcake

More Bad News For the Dems: Iraqi Uranium - Yellowcake

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - IAEA Confirms Yellowcake Found in Rotterdam Likely From Iraq

A Little Fun

A Little Fun

Some bumper stickers that can be found at Right Wing Stuff.

• Forget the Village! Where's the Parents?
  
• There wouldn't be a First without the Second (w/ a picture of a gun)
  
• Liberalism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, can help themselves
  
• Freedom is not Free
  
• WWRD?
  
• American Infidel
  
• My honor student beat up France
  
• VRWC (vast right-wing conspiracy) Lifetime Member
  
• Don't make an (picture of the Dem symbol) of yourself - Vote Republican
  
• My child doesn't get self-esteem from a bumper sticker
  
• My dog was student of the month at the local public school
  
• Hey Kids! Help Prevent Child Abuse: Obey Your Parents!
  
• We cna stand here like the French or we can do something about it. - Marge Simpson
  
• I tell you all: This is NOT a Bumper Sticker. It is NOT. - Baghdad Bob
  
• Chiraq: As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure. Rush: As far as France is concerned, you're right!
  
• Patton: I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French division behind me.
  

And my favorite:

• Political Correctness Means Always Having to Say You're Sorry

Junk Science: Salmon Scare

Junk Science: Salmon Scare

FOXNews.com - Views - Junk Science - Eco-Extremism, Not Science, Behind Fishy Salmon Scare

“The potential risks of eating contaminated farmed salmon have not been well evaluated. Three previous studies reporting contaminants in salmon are inconclusive because of their very small sample sizes and narrow geographic representation. As a result, the extent of this problem and potential risks to human health remain unclear,” the study’s authors wrote.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see how one gets a scary headline out of a study with that disclaimer.

In fact, there has never been a single health effect associated with consumption of farmed salmon (search) despite countless people eating millions of tons of it over the last 20 years. That’s no surprise since PCBs, dioxins and the other so-called “contaminants” considered in the study have never been scientifically shown to cause harm in humans at typical exposure levels.

Moreover, PCB levels found in commercial fish are well within the hyper-safe levels set by the Food and Drug Administration and have been declining for some time. FDA testing in 1989 indicated an average level of PCBs in salmon of about 0.39 parts per million. Last week’s study reported PCB levels about 20 times lower. . . .

David Carpenter, the study leader who gave many interviews to the media last week, has crusaded against PCBs for years. From the Hudson River-General Electric controversy to the Anniston, Ala. –Monsanto controversy, Carpenter has consistently tried to foment panic about PCBs. He’s a well-known health-scare hyperventilator who likes to masquerade as an impartial “expert” from the University of Albany’s Institute for Health and the Environment. . . .

The larger context here is that Pew opposes, and is doing what it can to stop, fish farming ¯ including giving Carpenter $2.5 million for his “study.”

Toward its goal of ending fish farming, Pew carps that farmed fish can escape and breed with wild fish, supposedly producing young fish that are less fit for survival in the wild. (There’s been no evidence of this despite some large escapes.)

Pew claims that waste from farmed fish result in undesirable nitrogen and phosphorus releases to surrounding waters. (What, wild fish don’t make waste?)

Pew has also prodded Congress for a moratorium on new fish farms.

But Pew has failed to gain traction with these efforts and has unfortunately taken to funding “research” to scare the public about the safety of farmed fish.

WOOOPS!

WOOOPS!

Seems that Wesley Clark isn't telling the truth nowadays.

DRUDGE REPORT 2004- WES CLARK MADE CASE FOR IRAQ WAR BEFORE CONGRESS; TRANSCRIPT REVEALED

Sowell: We Bring Home More Jobs Than We Export

Sowell: We Bring Home More Jobs Than We Export

Thomas Sowell: Manufacturing confusion

Facts are blithely ignored by those who simply assume that low-wage countries have an advantage in international trade. But high-wage countries have been exporting to low-wage countries for centuries. The vast majority of foreign investments by American companies are in high-wage countries, despite great outcries about how multinational corporations are 'exploiting' Third World workers.

Free Speech for Me but not for Thee

Free Speech for Me but not for Thee

Mike S. Adams: A queer theory of free speech

In Case You Forgot

Lest We Forget

Balko: Vote Dean!

Balko: Vote Dean!

In a satirical piece to prove his point, Richard Balko tells readers to vote for Howard Dean.

FOXNews.com - Views - Straight Talk - Vote Dean, Light GOP Fire

So, back to Howard Dean. More than a year into the primary campaign, it’s clear now that of the nine candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, Howard Dean seems to irritate Republicans most. He’s been the subject of the most press releases from the Republican National Committee, and attacks on him have popped up in conservative publications like the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, National Review and the Weekly Standard. The mere mention of his name spikes Rush Limbaugh’s (search) blood pressure. His supporters seem to be the very kind of youngish, hipster, anti-war, Volvo-driving types that send red-tied GOPers into a tizzy.

It really doesn’t matter to me if the Republicans limit the size of government out of principle or spite, I just want them to do it. Recent history suggests that for the GOP, the stronger motivator is spite. So if you truly care about limited government, help the Republicans rediscover their principles in election 2004.

Vote for Howard Dean.

To Infinity and Beyond!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Let's do this! The spending is VERY little in the immmediate future and the benefits of the space program could be ENORMOUS!

General Article on the topic: FOXNews.com - Politics - Bush Announces Plan for Missions to Moon, Mars

Q&A about the Moon/Mars Mission: Questions and Answers About Space Plan

Poll Shows Support sub-50%: Poll: U.S. Tepid on Bush's Space Plans

Paul Harvey points out that these poll results almost exactly mirror the initial poll results following Kennedy's announcement of the Moon Landing program.

Sean Penn - Iraqi Style

Sean Penn - Iraqi Style

COMMENTARY / 2nd act A year later, Sean Penn returns to Iraq and files a personal, candid report from the front

For Iraqis, there was no pro-war or anti-war movement last spring when the United States invaded their country. That, in their view, was a predominantly Western debate. They're used to war; they're used to gunshots. What's new is this tiny seed and taste of freedom. It is a compelling experience to have been in Baghdad just one year ago, where not a single Iraqi expressed to me opinions outside Baathist party lines, and just one year later, when so many express their opinions and so many opinions compete for attention. Where the debate is similar to that in the United States is over the way in which the business of war will administer the opportunity for peace and freedom, and the reasonable expectation of Iraqi self-rule.

Even Penn admits that what was seen and reported a year ago was false - Baathist imposed opinions, deviation from which would end in your death. This freedom he mentions, I wonder if he still thinks that freeing the Iraqi's from Saddam was a bad thing per se. We'll see as this report continues tomorrow.

This is an occupied country. A country at war. Many Iraqis I speak to tell me there is no freedom in occupation, nor trust in unilateral intervention. People from all sides of the debate acknowledge that the insurgency movement builds every day in manpower and organizational strength. The insurgents are made up of Saddam loyalists, displaced Sunni elite, resentful victims of U.S. raids, the Fedayeen, foreign terrorist cells and of course many of Hussein's soldiers, who, as participants in the Baathist regime, were sent home with their weapons and told, "You'll never work in this town again." The Iraqis I speak to say that the U.S. policy of de-Baathification is devoid of consideration of long-term goals, human nature and Arab culture and thus could ignite a powder keg.

Doesn't the first line here, the one about "no freedom in occupation", contradict what he said in the immediately preceeding paragraph? Also, "many Iraqis" implies that others he spoke to, yet did not mention, felt differently. Perhaps they felt relief and joy at liberation? As for the insurgency building in men and power everyday, well, seems that every day we also here about some terrorist guerillas being captured or killed, routed, blown up (by us or by themselves), etc. etc. etc.

All in all, this piece surprised me. Penn was much more thoughtful and well-spoken (did he have a ghost writer?) than I expected. The feel of the piece was negative in general (IMO) but maybe, just maybe he is beginning to understand the necessity of the US' actions.

Geez, Michelle, Tell How You Really Feel

Geez, Michelle, Tell How You Really Feel

Michelle Malkin: Homeschoolers vs. big brother

A crackdown on innocent homeschooling families to cure the incompetence of government child welfare agencies is like a smoker lopping off his ear to treat metastatic lung cancer. It's a bloody wrong cure conceived by a fool who caused his own disease.

FOXNews.com - Politics - Conservatives Split Over Marriage Amendment

FOXNews.com - Politics - Conservatives Split Over Marriage Amendment

Judge: Unions Get Pass on Campaign Reform

Judge: Unions Get Pass on Campaign Reform

Imagine my surprise when I read that the AFL-CIO will not have to reveal it's campaign expenditures for 2004.

I cannot even begin to express my shock that a judge would find a way to allow unions to continue their illegal forcing of members to pay for political ads with which they disagree and to continue their spending millions on political ads without having to report it.

END SARCASM

FOXNews.com - Politics - Union Records Free of Labor Dept. Scrutiny

Gleason said the new rules would have required electronic filing, and greater detail in the accounting of expenditures of more than $5,000. Aside from collective bargaining and organizing costs, filings include the millions of dollars unions spend each year on political activities, lobbying, issue advocacy and administrative overhead.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics (search), labor political action committees have so far given $15 million to candidates in the 2004 election cycle — 83 percent to Democrats, 17 percent to Republicans. That doesn't count soft money raised and spent for political organizing and issue advocacy. . . .

The Department of Labor, which has argued that the new requirements are meant to help members track spending of their union dues, said the filing process has remain unchanged in 40 years, while unions have become bigger and their financial structures more complex so that they now "resemble modern corporations in their structure, scope and complexity."

The Labor Department cited recent examples of union corruption to argue for the new, "functional" reporting that requires extensive detail of big expenditures. It noted that the new requirements followed a lengthy process in which it received 35,000 public comments and made several compromises before the rule changes were made.

"We will continue to work to provide greater financial transparency for the rank-and-file union members of this country," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards Victoria Lipnic, shortly after Kessler's ruling.

Gleason said his group will continue to fight to ensure that the new requirements stay in place. Kessler is expected to decide within the next few months on their merits.

"The problem is not that big labor plays politics, it's that big labor plays politics with other people's money," said Gleason. "People deserve to know where their money is actually going."

Taranto on WMD

Taranto on WMD

The eighth item from today's Best of the Web is a very nice summary of current WMD rumurs and their effect.

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

The Road to Damascus

'A leading Syrian dissident,' Nijar Nijjof, claims that 'Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons were smuggled out of Iraq' and 'hidden at three sites in Syria,' reports the Press Association, a British wire service.

The Washington Post reports that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice 'said the administration is investigating a report that Iraq stashed weapons of mass destruction across the border in Syria,' but Rice was cautious: 'I don't think we are at the point that we can make a judgment on this issue. There hasn't been any hard evidence that such a thing happened. But obviously we're going to follow up every lead, and it would be a serious problem if that, in fact, did happen.' From the Bush administration's perspective, the best time to find hard evidence would be after Howard Dean has won the Democratic nomination.

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, reports that ' U.S. officials have found evidence corroborating the Bush administration's allegations that Russian companies sold Saddam Hussein high-tech military equipment that threatened U.S. forces during the invasion of Iraq last March.' Recall that Moscow has a veto on the U.N. Security Council, the body whose 'permission' Dean and other doves would have demanded America secure before liberating Iraq.

Dean's Outburst

Dean's Outburst

What a non-issue.

Yes, you read that right. Who cares?

I have heard the clip of Dean at the pep rally where this guy confronted him. . . and Dean sounded perfectly rational to me.

This guy (a Rep) told Dean to be more neighborly and nicer, etc. The guy finished and then it was Dean's turn.

When Dean responded, calmly, that Bush was not "his neighbor," the guy stood up to speak again, at which point Dean responded (with all the normality of most anyone in this situation), "You sit down. You had your say. Now I'm going to have my say."

Big deal.

He didn't yell. He didn't curse (a la Kerry or clark). He didn't even tell the guy to shut up.

So what's the big deal all about?

Voter Triggers Dean's Much-Talked About Temper

O'Neill: Business as Usual

O'Neill: Business as Usual

Well, ok. That may not exactly be how HE would put it, but Paul O'Neill's revelation that we were planning how to invade Iraq long before 9/11 is truly a non-issue.

What many people don't understand is that the US has plans to invade pratically every country on Earth!

I'll pause while you catch your breath. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No kidding, really. Most of these plans are drawn up as emergency measures to be used, get this, in case of an emergency need to go into a country or simply as exercises for new officers.

Would you prefer for there to be a dramatic need somewhere in the world for the US to step in and we have to wait while operational plans are developed?

Right now, in the Pentagon, are plans to invade Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Russia, China, Bahrain, New Freedmanland (Montana), and just about any other country you care to name.

Get over it already.

FOXNews.com - Politics - O'Neill: Iraq Plans Began at Start of Bush's Term

This is Just Too Cool

This is Just Too Cool

Check this video of Sony's QRIO robot, dancing!

Large (6.68 Mb) file, but worth the wait!

Very impressive in the fluidity of motion and the balance demonstrated by these robots, IMO. A hearty "well done" to their designers and programmers.

Dem Hate Speech

Dem Hate Speech

FOXNews.com - Politics - Dean Backer Calls GOP Candidate 'House Mexican'

WASHINGTON — In a variation on an old theme, a Hispanic supporter of Howard Dean called a Latina Republican Senate candidate a "house Mexican" who is not being true to her race. . . .

"Apparently, according to Mr. Ybarra and many of his fellow Democrats, if you are not a liberal Democrat, then you shouldn't be considered a legitimate minority. It doesn't matter that I'm an immigrant, the daughter of a janitor and a seamstress, or that I had to teach myself English because my first language was Spanish," she said in a statement.