Tag: News

US Rejects Aid to Israeli Raid on Iranian Nuke Site

This is quite the interesting read.

Via the NYT:

President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before Mr. Bush left office. But the Bush administration was particularly alarmed by an Israeli request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located.

The White House denied that request outright, American officials said, and the Israelis backed off their plans, at least temporarily. But the tense exchanges also prompted the White House to step up intelligence-sharing with Israel and brief Israeli officials on new American efforts to subtly sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a major covert program that Mr. Bush is about to hand off to President-elect Barack Obama.

This account of the expanded American covert program and the Bush administration’s efforts to dissuade Israel from an aerial attack on Iran emerged in interviews over the past 15 months with current and former American officials, outside experts, international nuclear inspectors and European and Israeli officials. None would speak on the record because of the great secrecy surrounding the intelligence developed on Iran.

For some reason or another, I feel like the New York Times has just sold the United States right to secrecy up the river by revealing this. But on the other hand, I can see why Bush would do something like this. Bush was already mired in the war in Iraq. He knew our presence in Iraq was already causing tension in the middle east and knew also that sending these sort of bombs over to Israel to be used in Iran would just add to that tension. I give Bush a point here, he may have just done the right thing, but just telling Israel “no go” on these type of weapons. As it could have caused more problems that it might have fixed.

The interviews also indicate that Mr. Bush was convinced by top administration officials, led by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, that any overt attack on Iran would probably prove ineffective, lead to the expulsion of international inspectors and drive Iran’s nuclear effort further out of view. Mr. Bush and his aides also discussed the possibility that an airstrike could ignite a broad Middle East war in which America’s 140,000 troops in Iraq would inevitably become involved.

Instead, Mr. Bush embraced more intensive covert operations actions aimed at Iran, the interviews show, having concluded that the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies were failing to slow the uranium enrichment efforts. Those covert operations, and the question of whether Israel will settle for something less than a conventional attack on Iran, pose immediate and wrenching decisions for Mr. Obama.

The covert American program, started in early 2008, includes renewed American efforts to penetrate Iran’s nuclear supply chain abroad, along with new efforts, some of them experimental, to undermine electrical systems, computer systems and other networks on which Iran relies. It is aimed at delaying the day that Iran can produce the weapons-grade fuel and designs it needs to produce a workable nuclear weapon.

Knowledge of the program has been closely held, yet inside the Bush administration some officials are skeptical about its chances of success, arguing that past efforts to undermine Iran’s nuclear program have been detected by the Iranians and have only delayed, not derailed, their drive to unlock the secrets of uranium enrichment.

[…]

Early in his presidency, Mr. Obama must decide whether the covert actions begun by Mr. Bush are worth the risks of disrupting what he has pledged will be a more active diplomatic effort to engage with Iran.

Either course could carry risks for Mr. Obama. An inherited intelligence or military mission that went wrong could backfire, as happened to President Kennedy with the Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba. But a decision to pull back on operations aimed at Iran could leave Mr. Obama vulnerable to charges that he is allowing Iran to speed ahead toward a nuclear capacity, one that could change the contours of power in the Middle East.

Which proves what I have said time and again, our Government is not stupid, we know what we can get away with and what we cannot. Bush was not going to send our troops into a bloodbath. So, I give Bush credit here, he averted a major problem. However, I do see that Obama is going to have his work cut out for him in the White House. Iran is not going to go away quietly. If anything, with the gas market collapsing, Iran might just get a bit worse during Obama tenure. I just hope that, unlike Kennedy; Obama makes the right call on this issues, because if he does not, The United States could have some serious problems on its hands.

I strongly encourage you to go over to the NYT and read the rest of that report. It is quite the interesting read. Some would take away from it, that Bush was showing deference to the Arabs, but I think that it is much more than just that; in the sense that Bush knew that he would be getting in over his head. This is why he refused the Israelis permission to do flyovers and target Iranian targets.

Others: Associated Press, The Muqata, Israel Matzav, The Moderate Voice, RBO, Power Line, Hot Air, Israpundit, The Raw Story, Jihad Watch, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Toyota is feeling the pinch too.

So much for that stupid  Neo-Con line saying that the slump in auto sales is the automakers fault.

Via the New York Times:

TOKYO — Toyota Motor will idle its plants in Japan for 11 days in February and March to reduce output in the face of steeply declining global vehicle sales, the company said Tuesday.

The Japanese auto giant said the suspension would affect production at all 12 of its directly operated domestic plants, which include four vehicle assembly plants and also factories that make transmissions, engines and other parts. The closings are in addition to a three-day shutdown this month at these plants that Toyota had already announced.

The move is unusual for a company that just a few months ago seemed unable to keep up with voracious global demand for its fuel-efficient vehicles. But even strong players like Toyota have failed to escape the drastic slowdown in the global auto industry.

The company said it would idle the plants to reduce stocks of unsold vehicles amid a relentless slide in sales, particularly in the United States, its biggest market. Last month, Toyota’s sales there dropped 37 percent, a larger decline than at its struggling American rivals General Motors and Ford.

Plunging sales and a stronger Japanese yen, which reduces the yen value of overseas profits, forced Toyota to forecast last month its first annual loss in 70 years at its vehicle-making operations.

Toyota did not say how many vehicles would be affected by the suspension announced Tuesday. The company said its four domestic assembly plants produced 1.5 million vehicles in 2007, the most recent year for which the company has figures. Toyota-brand cars are also made by other companies in the Toyota group.

The company had already announced that it would shut down truck production at two United States plants for three months

Its American rivals — General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler — have also idled plants across North America in response to the slowdown.

For once, I am in agreement with a Liberal, and yes, it is the same knuckle-headed liberal that insulted Conservatives. Hey, I am one that praises when it’s due and bitches when it’s due too; At least I’m fair. 😉 😀 😛

Matthew Yglesias Weighs in:

This is the conceptual problem with efforts to “save” the car industry through bailouts or union busting or whatever you like. One assumes demand for cars will get higher than it is right now, but the industry has a whole just has more capacity to build cars than there is demand for new cars. Which is fine. When you look across the developed world and try to take stock of the medium- and long-run problems facing the OECD nations there’s just no way you’re going to reach the conclusion that an automobile shortage is a big concern. But obviously it’s not fine for the companies that make cars. There’s going to be a need for some shrinkage.

Yeah, I know, most likely some of the Conservatives who are basically scraping my blog for content are going to try and deride me as a fake conservative, because I stick up for the middle class and because I happen to be the son of retired General Motors Worker and U.A.W. member. Well, I got two words; screw you and the rest of the asshole Madison Ave. Conservatives. 😡

Anyhow, I happen to agree with Matthew here, I live here in the Detroit Area. If the auto industry dies, so does this area. That will cause my parents to suffer, they need the health insurance, as they are both diabetic and the amount of medications that they take is staggering.  Anyhow, this article above disproves and basically strikes down the “Meme” that was going around in the Conservative Blogosphere that the issues with the auto industry was the fault of the automakers. Which I totally dismissed as abject bullshit of the highest order. It was the fault of President Clinton for putting pressure on the loan companies to give those toxic subprime loans to those who were considered high risk. That is what started this whole thing. Of course, equal blame can be given to the Republican Congress of 2003 for not changing the laws, after all, they were warned by the Bush White House to do something; and they did nothing at all.

Best thing they could do, was have a hearing, of which the CEO of Freddie Mac pulled the race card, and congress backed off. So, all the blaming of the Auto Companies was nothing more than a feeble attempt by the Republicans at scapegoating the wrong damned people.

Here’s hoping that Japan’s auto industry totally collapses and people, both American and otherwise, have to buy American products, for a change!

News from a Fundamentalist Christian Viewpoint

The following is from a Fundamentalist Baptist Missionary. If you happen to enjoy what you read, please consider supporting his ministry.

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FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES

January 2, 2009, Volume 10, Issue 1

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

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Download and Print Friday News (Full Graphical Edition) for your church in PDF format:

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CHARISMATIC SONGS AND THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST HYMNAL (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, (866-295-4143) – The 2008 Southern Baptist Hymnal contains many songs written by charismatics and published by charismatic music companies such as Integrity, Maranatha, and Hillsong. About 75 of the top 100 contemporary worship songs are included. For example, songs by Jack Hayford, David Ruis, Paul Baloche, and Darlene Zschech are included.

These popular worship leaders are extreme charismatic ecumenists and contemporary Christian rockers. Hayford believes that God told him he must not criticize the Roman Catholic Church. Ruis is a worship leader at the Toronto Airport Church where people roll on the floor, bark like dogs, roar like lions, laugh hysterically, and get “drunk in the spirit” during their “revivals.” Ruis’s song “Break Dividing Walls” calls for an unscriptural ecumenical unity between all denominations.

Paul Baloche is worship leader at the Community Christian Fellowship of Lindale, Texas. Their 2002 Leadership Summit featured Ricky Paris, who calls himself an apostle. Baloche’s Offering of Worship album was recorded at Regent University, which was founded by the radical charismatic ecumenist Pat Robertson. As far back as 1985, Robertson said that he “worked for harmony and reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics” (Christian News, July 22, 1985). According to Frontline magazine, May-June 2000, a Catholic mass is held on Regent’s campus every week. Darlene Zschech and her Hillsong worship band recently performed for the Catholic Youth Day in Sydney, with the pope in attendance. The charismatic movement is not in submission to the Word of God and does not care one way or the other that these associations are contrary to Scripture, but shame on Baptists who follow in these presumptuous and disobedient footsteps. Shame on Lifeway for giving charismatics a powerful forum to influence Baptist churches, and shame on the Southern Baptist Convention for allowing Lifeway to do these things. Because the SBC refuses to deal with error consistently, the leaven will spread. The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine (Gal. 5:9). For more information see The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: History and Doctrine (book) and Dangers of Contemporary Worship Music (DVD), which are available from Way of Life Literature.

BILLY GRAHAM JOINS SBC CONGREGATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, (866-295-4143) – Billy Graham has moved his membership from the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, to First Baptist of Spartanburg, South Carolina, near his retirement home (“Graham Moves Dallas Membership,” AP, Dec. 30, 2008). Graham joined First Baptist of Dallas in 1953, and the Southern Baptist Convention has never condemned his unscriptural evangelism. Even a “conservative” like Albert Mohler, Jr., head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, supports it. He was the chairman of Graham’s crusade in Louisville in 2001. The Baptist Press reported that “hundreds of Southern students prepared for the Graham crusade.” Mohler said, “Nothing else has brought together the kind of ethnic and racial and denominational inclusivity as is represented in this crusade…” (Baptist Press, May 3, 2001).

Southern Baptist churches, colleges, and seminaries do not warn that Billy Graham has turned thousands of converts over to Roman Catholic and modernistic churches. For example, at the Vancouver, British Columbia crusade in 1984, the vice-chairman of the organizing committee, David Cline, said, “If Catholics step forward THERE WILL BE NO ATTEMPT TO CONVERT THEM and their names will be given to the Catholic church nearest their homes” (Vancouver Sun, Oct. 5, 1984). SBC bookstores do not carry books in that warn about wretched ecumenical ventures such as this and that document other New Evangelical compromises. (For more about this see “Billy Graham’s Sad Disobedience” at the Way of Life web site.)

TOTALITARIAN DICTATOR STALIN POPULAR IN RUSSIA (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, (866-295-4143) – Josef Stalin, the totalitarian dictator who murdered multiplied millions of his fellow citizens, is the third most popular historical figure in Russia today according to a recent survey. The poll was taken by Rossiya, a state television channel. He received almost the same percentage of votes as Alexander Nevsky, who defeated German invaders in the 13th century, and Pyotr Stolypin, a 20th century prime minister. Human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov told Reuters, “The younger generation is fed with myths about Stalin. It knows nothing about the millions who died in Gulag camps but well knows he was a strong leader who defeated (Nazi) Germany” (“Dictator Stalin Strong Contender,” Reuters, Dec. 28, 2008). The average young person in North America is also brainwashed in mythology. According to Bible prophecy, Russia and her allies will attack Israel during the Great Tribulation and their armies will be destroyed (Ezekiel 38-39). Anti-semitism has long been rampant in Russia.

EUROPEAN UNION PUSHING FOR WORLDWIDE HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org,(866-295-4143) – Under the leadership of France, the European Union (EU) is pushing for worldwide homosexual rights through the United Nations. In December, France, which headed the EU in 2008, attempted to get the UN to approve a resolution decriminalizing homosexuality.

The resolution received support from 66 of the 192 member nations, with all of the EU countries voting for it (“Conservatives Expect U.N.

Battle over Homosexuality,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 24, 2008). The United States voted against it, but that will probably change once Barack Obama comes to power this month. U.N. analyst Thomas Jacobson said, “I would fully expect that France and the European Union will push for ‘LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) rights’ and ‘gender-identity rights’ and collaborate heavily with the Obama administration, beginning in the first quarter of 2009.”

SNOWZILLA AND EVOLUTION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Snowzilla is a 25-foot snowman in Anchorage, Alaska, that is said to have appeared mysteriously just before Christmas. It was first built on Billy Powers property in a 16- foot incarnation in 2005, but after the city forbade him to build the giant snowman again this year, it appeared overnight larger than ever and Powers said that it must be “magic” and that he doesn’t know how it got there (“Revenge of Snowzilla,” Anchorage Daily News, Dec. 24, 2008). That a 25-foot snowman with wooden arms and cans for eyes, a scarf around its neck, and a hat on its head would just happen makes as much sense as evolution. Design doesn’t happen without a designer.

The Bible doesn’t waste time trying to prove the existence of God, because His existence is evident in the very creation. The Bible’s opening words state solemnly and majestically, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Men are held accountable for knowing that there is a God and will be judged on that basis. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

GLOBAL WARMING ROPE-A-DOPE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from Dr. Walter Williams’ syndicated column for December 23, 2008:

“Americans have been rope-a-doped into believing that global warming is going to destroy our planet. Scientists who have been skeptical about manmade global warming have been called traitors or handmaidens of big oil. … U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said it was ‘criminally irresponsible’ to ignore the urgency of global warming. U.N. special climate envoy Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland on May 10, 2007 declared the climate debate ‘over’

and added ‘it’s completely immoral, even, to question’ the U.N.’s scientific ‘consensus.’ In July 23, 2007, CNN’s Miles O’Brien said, ‘The scientific debate is over.’ … The global warming scare has provided a field day for politicians and others who wish to control our lives. After all, only the imagination limits the kind of laws and restrictions that can be written in the name of saving the planet.

Recently, more and more scientists are summoning up the courage to speak out and present evidence against the global warming rope-a-dope.

Atmospheric scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, ‘It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.’ Dr. Goldenberg has the company of at least 650 noted scientists documented in the recently released U.S. Senate Minority

Report: ‘More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent over Man-Made Global Warming Claims: Scientists Continue to Debunk “Consensus” in 2008.’ The scientists, not environmental activists, include Ivar Giaever, Nobel Laureate in physics, who said, ‘I am a skeptic … Global warming has become a new religion.’ Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an environmental physical chemist, said warming fears are the ‘worst scientific scandal in the history … When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.’”

UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL WARMING HYPOCRISY (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The United Nations is a ridiculous and hypocritical organization. It is ridiculous because its main stated objective is world peace, but it has no more ability to bring that about than it has to change the course of the sun. As for hypocrisy, we will give but one example. It is leading the global frenzy to save the world from global warming, but what it says and what it does is contradictory in the extreme. In Nepal, for example, the United Nations Mission, which helped put Maoists into power in a sham election in 2008, owns a fleet of gas- guzzling, pollution-producing SUVs which rarely if ever venture outside of the capital city.

A WORLDLY BIBLE FOR THE CHRISTIAN ROCK GENERATION (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org,(866-295-4143) – The Bible Illuminated is a worldly Bible fitting for the Christian rock generation. Released in English for the holiday season, The Illuminated Bible is a glossy magazine format that features pictures of rappers in indecent poses, immodestly clad models, Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie, atheist rocker John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Princess Diana, Bono, Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Andy Warhol in homosexual cross-dressing attire. The Illuminated Bible was the brainchild of Dag Soderberg of Sweden and was created by a group of secular advertising and corporate executives. It first appeared in Swedish in 2007 in an even “sexier” version than the English incarnation. Soderberg, who is “not a practicing Christian”and “not very religious,” hopes The Illuminated Bible “will generate more religious tolerance” (“Repackaging the Bible,” CNN, Dec. 24, 2008). The text for The Illuminated Bible is the Today’s English Version, which uses the dynamic equivalency method of translation to rob the readers of God’s Words, changes “blood” to “death” and corrupts practically every passage touching on the Deity of Jesus Christ. It is true in Christianity in our day as it was in Israel of old, “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holythings: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean…” (Ezekiel 22:26).

THE CYANIDE DEFENSE (Friday Church News Notes, January 2, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from Creation Moments, http://www.creationmoments.com/radio/transcript.php?t=2179 : “Wouldn’t it be amazing if a creature developed a chemical defense that is deadly to practically every other creature but itself– especially if that defense meant exposing itself and its enemy to deadly cyanide? Yet there is a species of millipede called Apheloria that does just this. Apheloria has, on each segment of its body, special glands that produce the chemical needed for defense. When the millipede is attacked by an enemy, it mixes this chemical with a catalyst. The result is a chemical that is a mild irritant plus hydrogen cyanide gas–the same lethal chemical used in the gas chamber. In this defense, the millipede as well as his enemies, are engulfed in a cloud of deadly cyanide gas. His attacker dies, but the millipede simply walks away unharmed. This truly amazing defense clearly has a purpose. Even more amazing, if evolution is right, the millipede developed this remarkable defense quite accidentally, and at the same time he became immune to deadly cyanide gas! This defense is completely unlikely to develop without a planner. The millipede’s immunity to cyanide makes sense if there was a planner, and it makes no sense at all if there wasn’t. God’s fingerprints are all over the creation as He seeks to draw us all to Himself.”

CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14). This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service list. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE ADDRESSES go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org.

The Obligatory Muslims removed from Plane Posting

Yes, I know about it.

I have very mixed feelings. Part of me says, if they weren’t in this country, they would not have this problem. Seems that some of the Arabs have forgotten about September 11 and what some of their fellow Muslims did to this country on that horrible day.

On the other hand, I believe it is totally wrong to single out a particular minority, and treat them like second class citizens. I believe that when the FBI cleared them, they should have been allowed on the plane.

It is just one of them very complicated issues. I will not act like my fellow conservatives and pull out the “Identity Politics” line or do the pile on here.

There is no easy answer here, and knee jerk reactions and stupidity will not solve anything at all.

Update: Of course, the Liberal media does not report the whole Story…. (H/T Cold Fury)

Later in the day, six of the nine detained passengers approached the customer service counter and asked to be rebooked to Orlando. At the time, the airline had not been notified by the authorities that the passengers were cleared to fly and would not rebook them until receiving said clearance. One passenger in the party became irate and made inappropriate comments. The local law enforcement officials came over and escorted the passengers away from the gate podium

Update: (H/T Reason)

Terrorists or No? How would one tell?
Terrorists or No? How would one tell?

Seriously. If someone looking like this came onto a plane, making comments that sounded suspect. How would one know? Racial Profiling? Damn Straight. Some of us have not forgotten this:

Some of us, haven't forgotten who did this. It wasn't Americans
Some of us, haven't forgotten who did this. It wasn't Americans

‘Nuff Said. 😡

Others:  Jihad Watch, bastard.logic, Little Green Footballs, At-Largely, Preemptive Karma, Donklephant, Macsmind, JammieWearingFool, The Impolitic, Kevin Drum, Feministing, theheretik.us, PoliBlog, That Minority Thing, NO QUARTER and Connecting.the.Dots

Breaking News: Gov. Rod Blagojevich picks Roland Burris to replace Obama in Senate

Hold on to your hats, because this one is huge.

Via Chicago Breaking News:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.

Shortly after Obama’s Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich’s arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor’s support.

Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama’s replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he’s never lost to a Republican.

Blagojevich, who has sole authority to name a replacement senator, scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference at his downtown Chicago office.

Of course, Harry Reid is having none of it, at all

The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as "unacceptable," the aide said.

Oy. I bet that presser is going to be, um, Interesting. Allah Pundit calls it a "Total Clusterfark." Indeed. Hee hee However, one could argue that this election cycle was a "cluster fark" from the word go. Especially the stuff with Hillary. She was like the child that just would not take no for an answer, funny thing is, she going to be the Secretary of State. Retreads Change you can appoint?

The neat part about all this, that it puts Reid in a spot. If he does not accept the appointment it could be, but most likely won’t be; viewed as racist by some. Which I think was quite the slick move by the Governor.

However, I most likely will not be around to see the whole thing go down. My Dad and I are supposed to go shopping. So, my blogging for the remainder of the day will be scattered. Lovely. 🙄

Have I ever mentioned how much I despise shopping? Especially with my dad? Oy. I’d rather be water boarded. (Well, Sorta…)

Others: The Campaign Spot, Don Surber (Via Memeornadum)

More firewood for the Holocaust Deniers

This is sick and sad. Sad

Via AP:

It’s the latest story that touched, and betrayed, the world.

"Herman Rosenblat and his wife are the most gentle, loving, beautiful people," literary agent Andrea Hurst said Sunday, anguishing over why she, and so many others, were taken by Rosenblat’s story of love born on opposite sides of a barbed-wire fence at a concentration camp.

"I question why I never questioned it. I believed it; it was an incredible, hope-filled story."

On Saturday, Berkley Books canceled Rosenblat’s memoir, "Angel at the Fence." Rosenblat acknowledged that he and his wife did not meet, as they had said for years, at a sub-camp of Buchenwald, where she allegedly sneaked him apples and bread. The book was supposed to come out in February.

Rosenblat, 79, has been married to the former Roma Radzicky for 50 years, since meeting her on a blind date in New York. In a statement issued Saturday through his agent, he described himself as an advocate of love and tolerance who falsified his past to better spread his message.

"I wanted to bring happiness to people," said Rosenblat, who now lives in the Miami area. "I brought hope to a lot of people. My motivation was to make good in this world."

Rosenblat’s believers included not only his agent and his publisher, but Oprah Winfrey, film producers, journalists, family members and strangers who ignored, or didn’t know about, the warnings from scholars that his story didn’t make sense.

The bad part about this is, it does true make those who did suffer from the evils of Hitler look bad. As I would expect the true Nazi’s in America are quite amused by this story and are now saying that the whole holocaust was a lie.

Make good in this world, by lying?!?! What a Jerk! AngryI’m steamed, because I just recently saw the last part of “Band of Brothers”, and now to learn that two Jews lied about being involved all that???! Oy. Rolling Eyes

They owe the world and the Jewish Community a big apology.

Others: The Other McCain and Vox Popoli

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Singer Eartha Kitt has died

America has lost another legend

AP Video: (via Breit Bart)

Story Via AP:

Eartha Kitt, a sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality, has died, a family spokesman said. She was 81.

Andrew Freedman said Kitt, who was recently treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, died Thursday in Connecticut of colon cancer.

Kitt, a self-proclaimed “sex kitten” famous for her catlike purr, was one of America’s most versatile performers, winning two Emmys and nabbing a third nomination. She also was nominated for several Tonys and two Grammys.

Her career spanned six decades, from her start as a dancer with the famed Katherine Dunham troupe to cabarets and acting and singing on stage, in movies and on television. She persevered through an unhappy childhood as a mixed-race daughter of the South and made headlines in the 1960s for denouncing the Vietnam War during a visit to the White House.

[…]

Kitt was plainspoken about causes she believed in. Her anti-war comments at the White House came as she attended a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson.

“You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed,” she told the group of about 50 women. “They rebel in the street. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.”

For four years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas. She was investigated by the FBI and CIA, which allegedly found her to be foul-mouthed and promiscuous.

You do not speak evil of the dead. Just that simple. If this woman is to be remembered for anything at all. It is for having the guts to stand up in the White House and denouce an unconsitutional war. Which is what Vietnam was. I give her props for that. Plainly put, the broad had balls.

May she rest in peace, a true class act, all the way.

Iraq Declares Christmas an Official Holiday for First Year

Some good news from Iraq.

Via FOXNews.com:

Iraq’s Christians, a small minority in the overwhelmingly Muslim country, quietly celebrated Christmas on Thursday with a present from the government, which declared it an official holiday for the first time.

But security worries overshadowed the day for many, particularly in the north where thousands of Christians have fled to escape religious attacks.

Overall security in Iraq has improved markedly in the past year, but a fatal car bombing in Baghdad on Christmas morning was a gruesome reminder that serious problems remain.

The bombing outside a restaurant frequented by police killed four people and wounded 25 others in the Shiite neighborhood of Shula, said a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give information to news media.

Also Thursday, an oil official said attackers blew up a pipeline in the city of Kirkuk. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attack occurred Wednesday and pumping was expected to resume within three days.

In his homily on Thursday, Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly praised the establishment of Christmas as an official holiday as a step toward easing tensions.

“I thank it too for making this day an official holiday where we pray to God to make us trust each other as brothers,” he said at the Christmas Mass before several dozen worshippers in the small chapel of a Baghdad monastery.

A senior Shiite cleric, Ammar al-Hakim attended the event, flanked by bodyguards, in a gesture of cooperation with Christians.

“I thank the visitors here and ask them to share happiness and love with their brothers on Christmas. By this they will build a glorious Iraq,” the cardinal said.

Unlike some liberals, who only want to look on the bad side of everything, (No wonder Sean threw you off of his show, idiot.) I think that this is proof that the surge is working. There is no doubt, that there is much work to do in Iraq. But this is a sign that there is some progress in Iraq.

What pisses me off, about the Liberals is this; they refused to admit that we won the overall war on terror in Iraq. Granted, we went there on bad information, I do admit that, as do many Conservatives; but the Liberals continue to repeat that dead fucking tired line of, “We cannot win, we have to leave and let these people fight their own battles.” Further more, they are the most irresponsible people ever. If we just pack up and leave, without fixing what we broke, without making DAMN sure that the Iraqi’s can defend themselves from attack from another Nation, we would be responsible for the worst case of genocide ever.

The Liberals refuse to see that Muqtada al-Sadr is all but irrelevant and hiding in Iran. The insurgency over, other than the spurious car bomb, things are back to normal. It sad that the Communist Liberals won’t give our Military the credit it deserves for accomplishing that enormous feat.

I just wonder how long it will be, before the Magic One will just remove all of our troops from Afghanistan and say, “Oh well, we deserved 9/11 anyhow, so, we’re not going to fight no more!” It would not surprise me at all.

The Moderate Voice,  Scared Monkeys, TigerHawk, Gateway Pundit, and Don Surber