The Last Ephor

File under; knowledge, useless List of problems solved by MacGyver

Something rotten in the state of Persia. The document mentioned in this story is a fake. So says Michael Ledeen (or James Jesus Angleton , depending upon your point of view. Notice that the AP story contradicts itself in the first 5 paragraphs. In paragraph one, the author says it was "among [the] documents found in the hideout of terrorist leader..." In paragraph five, Maj. General William Caldwell says it was found "prior to the Al-Zarqawi safe house." Good thing we have the MSM editors hard at work to prevent innacurate information from making it to the public. Unlike those sloppy bloggers. I have to side with Ledeen on this one. Personally, I'm suspect of any information they release that comes from the terrorists. I'm far more likely to believe the documents released from Saddam's regime. Largely because they are released untranslated and many of them have not been reviewed at all. The US military has a vested interest in disinformation...

What a bad week to be a Democrat. First, Zarqawi bites it. Next, the info seized from the raid is described as a huge treasure which leads to 104 insurgents killed in 225 raids and 28 significant arms caches . The Senate votes 93-6 to stay in Iraq YearlyKos shows the batshit crazy side of the Democrat party. Really, I was worried that the Democrats were going to retake Congress. Now it appears far less likely even with an idiot like Hastert at the helm. If nothing else, this is going to be amusing.

PJM News - Senate Rejects U.S. Troop Pullout in Iraq (9199577/AP) : "WASHINGTON, Jun 15, 2006 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- The Senate rejected a call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq by year's end on Thursday as Congress erupted in impassioned, election-year debate over a conflict that now has claimed the lives of 2,500 American troops. The vote was 93-6 to shelve the proposal, which would have allowed 'only forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces' to remain in 2007." File under: Calling your bluff. Demomcrats and Republicans alike both know that the talk of withdrawal is fodder for the election. The Republicans shrewdly forced the Democrats to vote on the issue before the election cycle. They now have a hammer to beat them with when they raise the spectre of leaving Iraq. This isn't the last of this issue, nor will Democrats tone down the rhetoric but it is a point scored for the GOP...

North Korea Photos . Excellent pictures of the scariest place on Earth.

How to watch World Cup on your PC . I love teh interweb.

AOL Cancellation Listen to this. I can't believe the rep was such as ass. I would have asked for his supervisor and the operators name and number much sooner.

Haiku Movie Revues The Butterfly Effect Good story structure Well written, well acted too worth renting, says I War of the Worlds Classic film remade special effects look great trailer shows best scenes

RUDY GOES NUCLEAR . Rudy is wisely staking out the nuclear power option as part of his preliminary campaign. With statements like this I'm seeing an increased likelihood of a McCain/Guilani ticket. I doubt they'd do so as independents. To do so would trash any hope of a political career Rudy would have if he lost. Too big of a gamble. However, he's likely to be a VP nominee and a strong one. No Democrat could hold their own against him in a debate. Not one. Ok, maybe Lieberman but he's doomed. The Kos Kidz have him in their sights and need a scalp to show the DLC they have clout.

Cancelling AOL . Listen to this nightmare. I wouldn't have been as nice and I would have asked for the manager after the first time he didn't cancel as requested.

Activists Jeer Clinton Over Iraq Stance . Clinton seeks to seize the middle and Kerry goes left. Either spot is doomed. As time goes on Clinton is looking less and less likely as the candidate of choice. She is a lightening rod and very likely to mobilize more GOP voters than Democrats. Kerry has made himself even more unelectable by becoming the anti-war war hero. His endless droning and need to pandecender. Nothing better than watching red on red.

Changes Ahead for U.S. Soccer Team . The headline should read; "Bruce Arena publicly humiliates US players." Arena is rightly livid with the US team. They looked horrible and played to lose. He knows that they need to get their asses in gear and play to win against Italy on Saturday. Without a win or draw in that match, they might as well pack their bags. I'd hate to see them repeat Monday's performance.

Daryl Hannah removed from tree Best. Headline. Ever. h/t Varifrank

Daryl Hannah removed from tree Best. Headline. Ever. h/t Varifrank

You have to be kidding me. Seriously, simply amazing. *sound warning*

Hawking Says Humans Must Go Into Space . He cites what the business world calls "concentration risk". One of my former clients realized their massive concentration risk after 9/11 when two groups that were supposed to support each other were across the street from each other . Two major development and support groups were out of comission for a week. We ended up sending a skeleton crew to Delaware for two weeks until things were back up and running. Almost immediately thereafter they were dispersed to multiple sites, one of which was in Ohio. Hawking points out what others have been saying for some time. We cannot afford to have all of humanity on one globe and just hope for the best. Plague, war, famine, asteroids, ice age and what have you, could wipe out all known sentient life in very short order. Either we grow or we die. The big question after that is how. The biggest problems are food and water. Air can be recycled using existing technology. Water is more ...

Troops scare would-be illegal immigrants away from border, officials say . It's already working. More please.

Czechs Top U.S. 3-0 in World Cup . Beaten and beaten badly. Their front line is very very strong. Certainly worthy of their ranking. The US team looked horrible and looked like team that knew they were playing to lose. They damn well better bring their A game against Italy. They need at least a draw to get out of their group and save some face.

Rove Won't Be Charged in CIA Leak Case Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ...

Reenactments. This guy is brilliant!

Young FrankenSteve . Steve Balmer meets Young Frankenstein. There's no end to the milage you can get from one insane day from Balmer.

Inside Apple's iPod factories . Ok liberals. You decry Nike's "sweatshops" in Asia. I wait with bated breath while you burn your iPods in protest. C'mon, let's go. I'm looking at you San Francisco. I expect to see great big heaps of burning plastic. Ok, no burning. Bad for the environment. Crushing then. Yes, we'll get a big ass bulldozer and crush them to bits. Right. Off we go, line forms to your left. Anyone? Hello?

Another Pro-choice victory ! Huzzah!

The Dark Heart of Africa . Why doesn't the world care about the endless and senseless death in the Congo? I know the left will say the US doesn't nothing b/c there's no oil there but where is the UN? Where is the EU?

UPDATE: US World Cup Team is getting shelled. It's currently 3-0 @ 77'. Ouch. Yes, I'm Tivo'ing it so I'll watch it later. Oh the humanity!

De la Where has a post about The estate tax . The rest of the quote is: "Most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax. In my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation." Such taxation be aimed merely at the inheritance or transmission in their entirety of those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits." While this seems noble, the problem is the one of "healthy limits". Nobody likes the indolent rich kids like Paris Hilton and her ilk, but do you really think that she's not going to be as odious and wealthy as she is now with our without a tax? As the WSJ pointed out, billionaires have no qualms with inheritance tax b/c they have vehicles available to shelter their income from government attempts to take it. Inheritance tax hurts the middle class far more than it hurts the uber-wealthy. I don't understand the logic that we should tax the rich more than the poor. What is the logic? "They can aff...

Remember this picture next time someone says we need to support the Palestinians.

Remember this picture next time someone says we need to support the Palestinians.

The Corner on National Review Online : "So far the prize for the kookiest state goes to Delaware, where I got one Anti-Masonic question, and one Anti-Catholic question (if those two people had been at the same event, they could have mauled each other). The Founders took it in their stride." h/t Paul Smith Jr.

Please, don't question their patriotism. Democratic rivals woo liberal bloggers?-?Nation/Politics?-?The Washington Times, America's Newspaper : " The line that earned him the most enthusiastic applause with hoots and hollers was his call for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to be fired. But seconds later, Mr. Warner said that 'we are all glad to see the end of' terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi. That line was followed by silence. "

Julie Banderas goes nuclear on Phelps matriarch . Thank you Julie! Normally, don't like when newscasters lost their cool but there's no way I could keep mine with someone as odious as that woman.

Terror Links to Saddam's Inner Circle . Remember the arguement that Iraq was a distraction from the War On Terror(ism)? The narrative is changing. The president's supporters pointed to hints, clues and nebulous links between Saddam's regime and terrorism. The left dispensed with their vaunted nuance and declared this was either personal or for oil (or both). As the documents come out we are seeing there were many more connections between Saddam and terrorists than we knew. If nothing else, read the bolded portions.

MEMRI has a rundown on the rebirth of intellecual thought in Iraq. Good to see there's hope for the rebirth of culture in Iraq.

John Kerry's Skimmer Scam . Another rundown of why John Kerry doesn't want to refight the Swiftboat fight. Kerry has no hope of winning the nomination. I think Warner is the frontrunner as Unabrewer pointed out. It's still very early but barring a miracle, I don't think Kerry will get the nod. He had his bite at the apple and he's done.

'Warmongers' have a point: It's a war says Mark Steyn. The dots are firmly connected. There is no shortage of evidence that this is a global exchange with no limits on the theater. It's an information war as well as a shooting war. Unless or until we get serious about winning and not simply doing enough to get out of Iraq, this isn't going to end. On that point, Vanderleun gives us a dose of hard truth. We have become fat, dumb and happy again. The war in Iraq has ceased to be seen as a war of survival. Rather, it's a prism for political ideology. It's an area to score points against the other side. For conservatives, this is about supporting the President and The Party. Liberals see this as a War For Oil and Bu$hitler's Adventurism. Conservatives have forgotten that radical Islamists want to kill every single one of us. Liberals never believed it. Vanderleun and Steyn now play Cassandra. They warn us in stark terms what we are facing...

The ever excitable Newsmax has an article about Zarqawi Planned to Top 9/11 Attacks . Well, yes. The article says they started training but I doubt he had the operational ability to send a team to the US for such an attack let alone succeed. He had his hands full in Iraq and was constantly moving to avoid his inevitable fate.

Worldnetdaily is only slightly less excitable and unreliable as Newsmax. Keep that in mind when you read this article: Memo reportedly shows location of WMD . If that article is true, it should be no problem to find this container even w/o the help of the locals. US forces have ground penatrating radar that could answer this question in very short order. I still say they moved everything to Syria. We'll find it there eventually.

Time’s “Corrections” About Haditha . The Haditha story is unravelling. The MSM got way too far out in front of this one. It fit their template so they ran with it. There was "evidence" so they ran with it. That this is nothing as it was reported is unimportant. The story made it's way to the Islamic world where we it only reinforces what they already believe.

Popular Mechanics - The Super Prius is Coming : "70-80 mpg ". Wow. That is remarkable. This is getting up to motorcycle territory in terms of efficiency. I'd be hard pressed to think of a better commuting car. I'll wait and see if this comes out as promised. We shall see.

nbc4i.com - Local News - Witness Says U.S. Troops Beat Al-Zarqawi After Bombing . And the problem is?