The Last Ephor

I know I said no politics but this is more about news than politics: Al Gore for Secretary of State? You could do worse. He's a far sight better than John "Magic Hat" Kerry would be. Michael Steele for GOP chair? Heck yes! Better him than Newt. They need some new blood in there. Newt is a shrewd operator and there's absolutely room for him somewhere just not the public face of the GOP. No audit for Obama campaign? Very bad news. This sets a dangerous precedent and sends the message that even if you win with illegal contributions you won't be blamed. Bluster and bluff from Iran . They're sending a message that they're still important and still a player. They also saw the US mucking about in Syria and Pakistan and are getting nervous. Even with President Hope-n-Change waiting in the wings US foreign policy's guiding force has always been momentum and Mr. O isn't going to do a 180 on anything despite promises to the contrary.

Hypocrisy has a Human Price on the Streets of Baghdad . Puts a human face on the price of early withdrawal. I often say that the prime reason I cannot vote Democrat is their divorce from reality in matters of foreign policy. I understand their want to throw money and increased government at any domestic problem. Most of that doesn't imperil democracy so much as harm the economy. We can easily remedy such errors. Missteps of foreign policy are much much harder to correct. Diplomacy is not an end, it is a means to an end. Conferences are all well and good but they usually result in nothing. Negotiations only work if they are backed by something. Something like the Fifth Fleet or economic sanctions. It's good cop/bad cop routine. One that only works if your opponent thinks the bad cop is in charge. Showing that the Kucinich wing of the party has truly taken control of the party they're attempting to add a cabinet level post called Department of Peace an...

Brilliant! Umberto Eco on mass tourism and it's unintended effects. The thrust of his article is that the masses bring cash which allow for the preservation of history. Keeping history from those same people dooms it to ruin and neglect. Eco is always interesting and this time he doesn't disappoint. Fisking the pope's critics . I think the writer is unduly harsh on the New Yorker and it's readers but his point stands. Most writers don't understand The Pope (whomever he may be) or what his job is. Similarly, they are not versed in the faith so they get things wrong and gloss over other things carelessly. Following up on yesterday's piece from The Derb, American Thinker has an insightful view on EU diplomacy and UK standing therein. He contends the goal was to drive a wedge in the Anglosphere. Even ABC concedes the troop surge is working . I expect total silence from the "I -support-the-troops-but-not-the-war-and-i'm-showing-my-support-by-cut...

What is the "Four-Square," and how do you beat it? Invaluable. How do I get from Dover to Dover ? What Liberal Bias ? Part MCMXLVI Let's take a look: Hundreds of people have been killed in Iraq during the last week, including 60 slaughtered in a similar Baghdad market on Thursday evening, as car and suicide bombers have continued to defy the new Iraqi-US security crackdown. Suicide bombers defy security crackdown? Well, yes. They also defy surviving the day. A security official told AFP earlier on Sunday that the Iraqi death toll was up 15 percent last month. US commanders openly admit there is no military solution to the lethal sectarian warfare, insurgency and rampant kidnapping. I really doubt this is true. Does the reporter have a quote somewhere with some General saying "All is lost! My kingdom for a horse" or something? There is no solution that is exclusively military but that doesn't mean there won't be a military component. Yet Lind...

I hate Alec Baldwin's politics. He's an awesome actor though. This story struck me. Mohave Daily News: Local "Baldwin offered the family three options, Canright said, and told them he could either send a check, come to Needles for a low-key meeting or come along with major networks and the media." Kudos. If he were insincere or grandstanding he wouldn't have offered any options save the last one. Good for him. SAY IT SAINT JOE - TUITION IS 25G The man is right. Closing a school and reopening it with a ten fold increase in tuition is completely unfair. His Emminence better have a very convincing argument as to why this should be to quell the furor among the faithful. Blackfive has Good News from Iraq Report . Read the whole thing. The bit about the HUMVEE upgrades is fascinating. Right-Thinking from the Left Coast has Quote of The Day #1: "The air is so dirty that I actually went outside with a knife, cut a cube out of the air, and took it home with ...

Al Gore, Global warming hypocrite. I don't like Hannity, but he has Gore dead to rights on this one. Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace, Edwards remarked, was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. And that is the sound of Edwards campaign crashing on the rocks. What would the world be without America? Mr. Sulu pwn's Hardaway

"Too Many Jews" To comment any further on this quote would require me to violate Godwin's law. California Latinos fearful after immigration raids . Well, yes. That's we've been on about since, oh, 1986 or so. Headline could easily be retitled: "Criminals fearful after police crackdown". Is this new? I really hope not. We should have been killing them from the beginning. It's all well and good that we're rebuilding things over there but we really ought to be killing many more terrorists than are. Some poignant political cartoons about our march towards totalitarianism Does Anyone Else Detect a Trend? asks BlackFive. I'm not sure what to make of it either but there has been a noticeable bump in positive reports out of Iraq. I'm reticent to draw any conclusions. "The more we play God or try to improve on Mother Nature, the more damage we are doing with all kinds of experiments that... turn into nightmares." Another ...

First up, Senator MarryMoney. What else can I say but WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! E. Howard Hunt makes Dick Cheney look like Lady Astor. In fact, anyone who receives high marks from G. Gordon Liddy for cunning and ruthlessness is not someone to be taken lightly. (The only guy I can think of that might be even scarier is Tony Poe ) Hunt was one of the Watergate burglars. He died yesterday and in his last interview is here: The one passage that is going to fuel the conspiracy theorists forever more. Slate: I know there is a conspiracy theory saying that David Atlee Phillips—the Miami CIA station chief—was involved with the assassination of JFK. Hunt: [Visibly uncomfortable] I have no comment. Slate: I know you hired him early on, to work with you in Mexico, to help with Guatemala propaganda. Hunt: He was one of the best briefers I ever saw. Slate: And there were even conspiracy theories about you being in Dallas the day JFK was killed. Hunt: No comment. Laura Hunt: Howard says he ...

Some local bloggers propound to be atheists because science is reliable, nay, infallible. It is based on fact and is unchanging. Whereas faith, is anti-science and based on foolishness. To wit: we may have already found life on Mars and killed it. (Typical Americans). Classical Values connects the dots showing Iran's inability to export gas to Turkey . That is very bad news for Iran. They need that hard currency coming in to keep them solvent. If this continues apace, look for that deficit to have an impact on Iran's mid and long term strategery. The information war with the Jihadis takes a nasty turn. We are fortunate they were unmasked the first time out of the gate. Look for more of these in the future and cast a very skeptical eye upon them. What matters more is that this crap is not only lapped up by Al-Jazeera but the Arab world as well. Nerd humor How not to apply for a job in Dubai (or anywhere for that matter) This is just gobsmacking. I literally don...