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August 31, 2006

Red Star Tribune on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

The Red Star Tribune is at it again, yet another attack on the Bush Administration and Republicans in Genera, this time over the threat of Nuclear Weapons in the hands of the Ayatollahs running the totalitarian government of Iran.

Stop us if you've heard this one: The Bush administration and Republicans in Congress believe, or want to believe, that a serious nuclear threat to the United States is developing in the Middle East. To make that case, they need help from U.S. intelligence agencies. And those agencies' analysts don't believe the threat is nearly as worrisome as the Bush clan does. So the Republicans begin beating up on the intelligence types, trying to force them to change their view. Over at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld sets up his own separate group to produce independent analysis of the threat. The race is on to document a dire nuclear threat that probably doesn't exist.
It is not probable and it certainly does exist. More below.
Stop, you say; we're talking about events leading to the war in Iraq.

Well, we could be, but we're not. This time it's Iran. The administration wants proof that its tough-guy approach to the Persian state is justified, but the pros in intelligence analysis aren't having any of it. Iran, they say, doesn't have the capability to produce nuclear weapons now and probably won't have for another five to 10 years.


The Red Star Tribune fails to note that it took the United States four years to go from theory to bomb during World War II. The technology available to Iran is far superior than what was available to the Manhattan Project of the 1940s. These guys at the Red Star Tribune need to stop smoking so much dope and read a few good books on the subject. But they are too busy hating the President and his administration, not to mention Republicans in general to get learn a few basic facts before the bloviate on a topic.

That's not very convenient for the Bush administration, because today Iran will run out the clock on a U.N. Security Council resolution requiring that it stop its nuclear weapons programs -- mainly uranium enrichment. Not only did Iran not comply, it went out of its way to defy symbolically the Security Council: It began a new enrichment effort -- of a small amount of uranium to a low-enrichment level not suitable for weapons.

Sure, today it is low-level enrichment…what will they be producing next week. How long will it be before their refining efforts yield sufficient quantities of Uranium 235, shape it into charges and sell it to al-Qaeda?

We know that Iran is enriching Uranium, the process to separate Uranium 235 from Uranium 238. Iran has stated on numerous occasions that it wishes to obliterate Israel from the face of the Earth. This will take nuclear weapons. The zealots running Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority, as well as their supporters and the various terrorist organizations they have fostered, do not care what this will cost in regards to human life, including their own lives. We know that al-Qaeda in particular wishes to get its hands on nuclear weapons.

How long will it be before they can acquire what they need to carry out an attack on New York or Tel-Aviv with nuclear bombs? Less than five years, probably, less than ten years, certainly.

And we know that they have willing zealots fully prepared to die carrying out such missions.

And it isn't that hard to do, especially since numerous articles are floating around in books, magazines and the Internet on just how to do it.

The editorial also ignores the fact that North Korea, thanks to former President Jimmy Carter and the Clinton Administration now has several nuclear weapons. What is preventing them from brokering a deal with al-Qaeda, supplying them with sufficient quantities of U-235 or, assuming they are moving in that direction, Pu-239, so that al-Qaeda can carry out their mission of hate.

When you look at the thousands of tons of illegal drugs that are smuggled across our borders every year, not mention the 10s of thousands of illegal aliens, how easy will it be to smuggle a few softball sized packages into the United States and nuke San Francisco?

It could happen. And in less than the five to ten years the Red Star Tribune's editorial staff seems to think it will take.

All this from an organization that has now switched from the cry of "There were no WMDs in Iraq" to "Iraq had no nuclear ambitions," both of which have been proven wrong, from the recovery of over 500 chemical weapons, the discovery of toxins in 2003, tons of precursor chemicals posed to restart chemical weapons programs, and nuclear waste left in a fashion to poison our troops in the field, all of which has been reported in the and then ignored.

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August 30, 2006

Liberty and Anti-Liberty

The Red Star Tribune has been running a poli-blog called "The Big Question." Today's entry is entitled "Bachman the Anti-Totlaitarian." The bulk of the piece revolves around a quote from a Reagan speech that Bachmann used in a speech at her congressional district's convention a few months where Reagan pointed out there is a choice between the path to freedom and the path to totalitarianism.

It is a fiar statement to say the differences between the two candidates is as clear as night and day. To say that Pattiy Wetterling does not support totalitarianism, or that the Democratic Party as whole has become a party of totalitarianism, may not be too far off the mark. Let's look at a few issues and where the DNC and the vast majority of their candidates stand.

Social Security Reform: The Democrats and, specifically, Patty Wetterling refuse to consider any plan to privatize Social Secuirty, allowing working Americans a choice in how their money is handled. They believe in no choice for working Americans. Bachmann and the Republican Party support allowing working Americans to choose how they invest in Social Security WITHOUT impacting those already receiving "benefits."

Public Education: Wetterling believes that all we need do is throw money at the schools and that they will automatically improve; she refuses to consider any plan that would include "school choice," such as a voucher system, that would allow working class as well as impoverished Americans to choose between the public school system and private schools.

Liberation of Iraq: Like many Democrats running for office, Wetterling believes that the liberation of the people of Iraq to be wrong, never mind the fact that over 500 chemical weapons have been recovered in that country, that Saddam Hussein's regime on numerous occasions used such weapons against the armies of Iran as well as against his own population. Also, let's conveniently forget that Iraq provided a safe haven and training ground for terrorists, that Hussein provided money to the families of suicide bombers in Palestine and the over 500,000 people murdered and buried in mass graves by that regime. Promoting and preserving Liberty throughout the world has always been a focal point of America, including the sacrifice of American blood to bring it where it is needed: Germany and Japan in World War 2, South Korea in the '50s, Kuwait in the '90s, Afghanistan and Iraq in the 21st Century. Withdrawing prematurely from Iraq may well return that country to totalitarianism.

It is clear to me that the modern Democratic Party cares far more about gaining and retaining power than it does about preserving Liberty.
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August 25, 2006

Amazing What You Don't See in the Papers

It's been a while since I have visited the site, a site I need to spend more time at. Here's the latest:

During a press conference Aug. 23, Iraqi and Coalition leaders discussed a recent combined operation in Baghdad’s Shulla, Nur and Ghazaliyah neighborhoods that resulted in a sharp decrease in levels of violence in the area and paved the way for improved essential services.

Brig. Gen. Jaleel, commander, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and Col. Michael Shields, commander, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, highlighted the joint nature of the 10-day operation - in support of Operation Together Forward - as well as the relationship between Iraqi and Coalition forces and the people of Ghazaliyah.

Shields discussed the teamwork necessary to complete a mission that involved the clearing of more than 20,000 buildings, the capture of several individuals, and the discovery of 15 weapons caches.


Maybe I've missed it, but I have not seen any mention of the recent discovery of 15 weapons caches in the news. Did I miss it?

The article continues to point that while the recent operation was being carried out, there was a dramatic drop in violence. Worth the read.

More news on the site includes a story of a Marine using soccer balls to reach out to the Iraqis in the area where he patrols and the training of the Iraqi Air Force. More items of interest neglected by the MSM.

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August 24, 2006

Dems Race For White House

There is a good piece on FoxNews on the quandary the DNC is facing in 2008: what type of candidate to run for President.

The question is should it be an anti-war zealot, national defense hawk, or somewhere in the middle ground.

The piece uses the recently party-purged Lieberman and the Connecticut primary as an example. Lieberman has always been very vocal in his support for the Liberation of Iraq, and supportive of continued anti-terror operations in the Middle East. Ned Lamont, who succeeded in his attempt to wrest the Democratic nomination from Lieberman, is one of those anti-war zealots that the red-diaper doper babies adore. Lieberman has historically been relatively "liberal" in his politics, so his purging was based solely on his support of the war in Iraq.

Recent polls, however, show Lieberman, now running as an Independent, is well in the lead over both Lamont and the GOP candidate, Alan Schlesinger.

How could this happen?

Easy...primaries are not a solid indicator of what will happen in November when the contest is actually decided. Lieberman has a lot of appeal to moderate and center-right Republicans. Also, the primary was decided by about 10,000 votes, and primaries are never well attended, giving an advantage to the zealots that mobilized to oust Lieberman from a party that doesn’t respect him to begin with.

With any luck, Joe will wake up and smell the coffee and move a bit more to the right and join the GOP. At least GOP has a fair amount of respect for the man, unlike the party of Michael Moore, which only knows how to espouse hate for anyone that holds viewpoints that differ from their own.

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Pluto Loses Planetary Status

Time to throw out all your astronomy books as the International Astronomical Union has decided that Pluto is no longer a planet.

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

For those of us who have always viewed the solar system as having nine planets, this will take some adjustment. Of course, with the state of the public school system, there’s a lot of people out there who think Pluto is a Disney character and don’t know how many planets are in the solar system to begin with.

An additional side-effect is that every school in the country will have to buy new science books that describe Pluto as a "dwarf-planet" as opposed to the full planet status it hashad since its discovery in 1930.

Other objects classified as dwarf-planets include the asteroid Ceres and the recently discovered 2003 UB313 (nicknamed Xena).

On the positive side, having an agreed upon definition of what is and is not a planet will be helpful for the astronomical community for centuries. This is the first time that a definition has been developed to determine planetary status.

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Sowell on Nuclear Terrorism

Thomas Sowell tells it like it is in this column on .

A key point on terrorists gaining nuclear weapons:

This is not just another in the long history of military threats. The Soviet Union, despite its massive nuclear arsenal, could be deterred by our own nuclear arsenal. But suicide bombers cannot be deterred.

With the suicidal fervor that al-Qaeda terrorists have shown the world, their willingness to spend their lives to murder anywhere from a few to thousands of people in a single stroke, once they are able to lay their hands on sufficient quantities of Uranium 235, it is only a matter of time before they use it to strike Tel Aviv, New York, London, or Los Angeles, to name a few likely targets.

Many years ago, I ran across an article in a magazine, and no, I am not going to disclose what magazine and when, that went into details how it could be done. Back then, it was thought implausible as it meant breaking into a reactor facility. Now, with North Korea having shown the world its own arsenal, and Iran nearing that point, it is only a matter of time before al-Qaeda, or some terrorist affiliate will acquire all it needs to build small yield bombs that will kill tens of thousands in a single stroke.

These murdering brutes, and the regimes that sponsor them (Iran, Syria, and others) can not be dealt with as we would other nations. They are hell bent on destruction, pure and simple, and do not care if it costs them their own lives.

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August 23, 2006

Mail Box Vandalism

I am back from a long and enjoyable vacation, visiting family in Oregon and exploring Yellowstone National Park for the first time, with my wife and daughter. It was, to say the least, a blast, and in reality a bit too short.

When we turned onto the gravel road that leads to our home, we saw that one of our neighbor's had his "Support the Troop" sign demolished by rampaging punks. These punks cruised through the local township's destroying signs such as the one pictured below, as well as vandalizing the mailboxes of a number of homes, including ours. Now, I can deal with my vandalized mail box. Unfortunately, many of the homes that suffered property damage from the pack a hoodlums (okay, I don't know how many were involved…maybe one, maybe a dozen…who knows!) were over the age of 80. Fortunately, they were able to get assistance in setting things right, except for the demolished "Support the Troops" sign. It lays there still, shattered at the end of my neighbor's driveway.

Demolished Sign 230KB jpeg. This sign stood here since operations to liberate Afghanistan.

Wisconsin 1st Brigade Band 228KB jpeg. My mail box.

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Home At Last

We've been on vacation for the past couple of weeks and without any Internet access. What a concept. It was a blast, but the homecoming is somewhat disturbing.

Some hoser went through the area taking out a number of mail boxes, including ours, as well as our neighbor's "Support the Troops" sign. I'll go out and take pictures of some of this in the morning and post them. welcome back to Northfield, land of tolerance. My you-know-what.

I'll alos post some material on the vacation later on this week as I get time to process the images, and deal with the downed mailbox.

August 12, 2006

Listening In...

This is from FoxNews:


A phone call made from Pakistan to Britain played a vital role in foiling the plot to destroy U.S.-bound aircraft during flight, Pakistani officials said Saturday, as brothers arrested in Pakistan and England emerged as key figures.

I wonder how many people on the left will be screaming invasion of privacy and complain about "wire-tapping" over this.

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August 10, 2006

Terrorist Plot Foiled in U.K.

British anti-terrorist police foiled a plot to simultaneously bomb multiple aircraft bound for the United States. According to the report, the terrorists were planning on using liquid explosives that could be missed by technology currently in use to detect explosives.

Here's a link to the article on FoxNews.

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August 9, 2006

Strib Speaks Out against Oil...Again

The liberal wankers at the are at it again: denouncing oil and not offering any alternatives.

Here's a gem from the article:

The answer isn't more drilling, as some conservatives urged in the wake of BP's shutdown of Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field. That would be like giving a bigger meal to a fat man. What's needed is a new direction.

They are against "Big Oil" because oil companies are capitalistic by nature (never mind that news papers are also capitalistic endeavors…we never here about "Big Media" and their record profits). Drilling oil in ANWR as well as the outer continental shelf will go a long way toward alleviating the current fuel crunch.

Natural gas prices have also skyrocketed as the demand by electrical plants has increased, especially since many existing generators as well as new plants have switched from "dirty-polluting" coal to "clean" natural gas. This has put a strain on winter time heating budgets as the vast majority of homes are heated by natural gas, hurting the poor the most.

One thing that would help there is building new (and modern) clean burning nuclear power plants, thus reducing the demand for natural gas to electrical power plants. But the left, the self-proclaimed "guardians of the poor and down-trodden" block all attempts to build new nuclear power plants. It's okay for France, Germany, China and Iran to have them, but not here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

As for oil, the left, and the so-called "guardians of truth", the Main Stream Media, want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil (which I applaud) but refuse to consider opening up ANWR or other oil rich areas to development.

At least they recognize that global demand for oil is up, and site China as one example (India's demand has gone up 400% over the last 20 or so years), and that much of the world's currently tapped oil supplies are in unstable totalitarian countries, like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela.

But where are their ideas for alternatives? They do not present any! Time to open up ANWR and the outer continental shelf as well as build more nuclear power plants.

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Lieberman to Run as Independent

The hard-left controlled Democratic Party has purged Senator Joe Lieberman from the party. This may well be the cloud with the silver lining as it will show how far off the mainstream the Democratic Party has strayed in the last decade or so.

Ned Lamont, who is about as hard-left as you can get, ran against Lieberman on a predominantly anti-war platform, proving that if you don’t subscribe to the left-wing agenda in lock step, you will be ousted.

Lamont, on his website, characterizes the Liberation of Iraq as “Bush’s war.” This statement says a lot about Lamont’s character, along with stating that he believes in “progressive” ideas, better known as socialism.

His website still proclaims that WMDs were never ground in Iraq, despite the use of WMDs by terrorists on two separate occasions in 2004 and the recent announcement that over 500 chemical weapons had been recovered since the liberation of Iraq.

Lieberman has announced that he will carry on in the election cycle as an Independent. Lieberman has been a fine senator, albeit a liberal one. He at least knows the difference between right and wrong when it comes to the war in Iraq and the Global War on Terror.

During the final days of the campaign, Lieberman’s campaign website and email came under a denial of service attack. They have notified the authorities and demanded an investigation into the attack. There is currently no comment or denouncement of the attack on the Lamont website. I hope that the autorities will be able to identify the criminals involved and bring them to justice.

How a three way race will impact the election in November is open to debate, and this will turn into one very exciting race. My money is on a Lieberman victory, or a GOP upset in that state, leaving filthy-rich Lamont out in the cold.

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August 2, 2006

Offshore Drilling Vote in U.S. Senate

The Senate has approved a plan to open some 8 million acres of coastal waters in the gulf region to offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. According to the piece on FoxNews, the plan is not as broad as the plan passed by the House, and will need to be reconciled between both houses of Congress.

One interesting aspect is how the 71-25 vote split up. 24 of the 25 nay-sayers were Democrats, with the only Republican acting irresponsibly was Senator Snowe (R-ME). Senator Deadbeat Dayton (D-MN) proved once again why he is undeserving of the great honor and responsibility handed to him by the people of Minnesota in 2000. Both Diane Feinstein and Moonbat extraordinaire, Barbara Boxer, the senators from California (both hard-left Democrats) voted against the bill. All of the Gulf States that would be impacted by the offshore drilling (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida) voted in favor of the bill, including the two Democrats in the Senate from that region.

The vote tally is available on the website.

Four Democrats were missing in action when the vote was tallied (listed as “not voting”). I am always curious to know why they didn’t vote on an important matter that impacts the entire nation.

The move will open up the region to drilling that will increase domestic energy supplies, and, as we all know, greater supplies should reduce the demand. Albeit, it will take some time before any new oil platforms can become operational, so don’t start looking for a drop in fuel prices soon.

Offshore drilling will help poor people the most as natural gas prices of skyrocketed in recent years, as demand for it has increased for fueling electrical plants (instead of using coal; natural gas burns cleaner). Increasing domestic supplies will benefit these folks the most.

Now, all we have to do is open ANWR and build some new nuclear reactors, preferably the new pebble bed design, and we’ll be well on our way to energy independence.

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