Why Hotels Give Away Free Copies of USA Today - Content

Per the AP:

USA Today acknowledged in a "note to our readers" Friday that it could not establish that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the National Security Agency to provide it with customer calling records, as it previously reported...............

So on a Friday before a holiday, not on the front page, USA Today is whispering via a "note to their readers" that they made a massive mistake and reported some seriously wrong info on a story that never should have been reported?.............. I'd say its a disservice to their subscribers but somehow I have an issue calling hotels subscribers.......The whisper goes on to say:

In an accompanying story, the newspaper reported Friday that lawmakers on House and Senate intelligence committees have said that while the NSA has amassed a huge database calling records, cooperation with the NSA by telephone companies was not as extensive USA Today initially reported on May 11..........

Huh, "not as extensive as initially reported" but to hell with substantiating that it was before running the story? It was kind of important that you got the content right on this before you published it, wasn't it? Nice job...................

Then of course to deflect their massive failing, USA Today throws out a criticism stating those in congress who supported the NSA program now have an issue because the program was not as extensive as it should be:

Lawmakers who support the Bush administration's domestic spying program see the apparent gaps in the database as a problem. "It's difficult to say you're covering all terrorist activity in the United States if you don't have all the (phone) numbers," Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., told USA Today. "It probably would be better to have records of every telephone company.".................

So in their whisper to readers disclosing just how wrong they got the story, this is a major part of the new disclosure and new story? Before the false elements were know the Bush Administration did "too much" and "overstepped their authority" and now that we know there is serious factual issues with the story the Bush Administration has done "too little" for those who supported the false report? Nice, thanks for giving us the proper perspective and getting us refocused on the important elements of your false report.....................

There is a reason that hotels leave a free copy of the USA Today on the floor, in the hallway outside your hotel room, it's called quality of content.......................

It's also not that surprising that the lefties who have their ear on the ground to catch the latest conspiracy angle, have their head in a decent to position to read a publication that rests below the threshold of ones hotel room door.........

So what position must their head be in to believe the NYT? I won't go there.......


Others covering the USA Whisper I found interesting:

Blue Crab Boulevard

Look What We Caught - Iranian Agents in Iraq

Coalition forces have captured Iranian agents in Baquba, Iraq per Captain's Quarters via Reuters:

Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, and witnesses and police said U.S. helicopters bombed orchards to flush out gunmen hiding there. Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting, in which a sniper shot dead the commander of an Iraqi quick reaction force and two of his men. They did not say how the Iranians had been identified.....................

The United States and Britain have accused Shi'ite Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs and providing military assistance to Iraq's pro-government Shi'ite militias. However, there have been few instances of Iranians actually being captured inside Iraq.....................

Captured Iranian agents are proof positive that Iran is trying to carve out pockets of control and influence in Iraq as they have done elsewhere in the region via terrorist means. It's hardly a surprise and probably will not have a major impact, but it does answer the question. Sounds like we should stack the border and start getting some serious kill numbers of Iranian agents attempting entry into the conflict.....................

This also can't help Iran in the nuclear stand-off and should remove any doubt of their goals in the region from those still willing to give them any benefit of the doubt, regardless of how thin that might be and how unbelievable they could still give any benefit of doubt.........................................

15 Years for Hurricane Looters

Three hurricane Katrina looters get 15 year per the AP:

Three people convicted of hauling away liquor, wine and beer from a grocery store after Hurricane Katrina were sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison. The judge said he wanted to send a message that looting would not be tolerated when he gave the maximum sentence to Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowen, 42, and Paul C. Pearson, 36, all of Kenner............

If you think 15 years is stiff for a truck load of booze, not so long ago the police shot looters dead for looting so in light of that, I'd say they got off pretty easy................If you want to eliminate all looting in future hurricanes, bring back the old law of "shoot to kill", looting would not be a problem................

President Bush to Media: Your Service is Necessary to Secure the USA

President Bush in his visit to St. Louis today said the following to the media members covering the event, per the Post's report:

President Bush told members of the media "their service is necessary to secure the United States of America."............

I'd say that was a diplomatic but again a pretty clear statement against the NYT decision to disclose the terrorist banking data monitoring program.................

That said, he is right, we do need the press to start making the right decisions when faced with the next story of this nature..........

Sounds like it was a very positive visit for the President and for Senator Talent..................

---------------update------------------

More from the Post ref Bush's visit and statement about the leaking of intel via the political fix blog:

Bush also had some choice words for the New York Times for breaking the story about a secret administration program to track millions of financial records in search of terrorist suspects. The president contended that the disclosure hurt the government’s effort to protect Americans. “There’s no excuse for anyone entrusted with vital intelligence to leak it, and there’s no excuse for a newspaper to print it,'’ Bush said..............

There is no excuse..............

NYT Asked for Effective Banking Intel Program Then Exposes It

Interestingly enough, the NYT on 9/24/2001 wrote the following editorial (subscription required):

The Bush administration is preparing new laws to help track terrorists through their money-laundering activity and is readying an executive order freezing the assets of known terrorists. Much more is needed, including stricter regulations, the recruitment of specialized investigators and greater cooperation with foreign banking authorities. There must also be closer coordination among America's law enforcement, national security and financial regulatory agencies……………..

The Treasury Department also needs new domestic legal weapons to crack down on money laundering by terrorists. The new laws should mandate the identification of all account owners, prohibit transactions with "shell banks" that have no physical premises and require closer monitoring of accounts coming from countries with lax banking laws……………

Now fast forward to last week………………….The NYT decides to publish a story exposing a “legal” classified intel program, that achieves the cooperation and monitoring that the NYT editorial stated was required and they themselves in their editorial called for…………….

The press has a responsibility to report abuses of power by the government and they most certainly are protected under the First Amendment as they should be. The press however has no obligation or right to expose “legal” intel programs while we are at war because they think it’s a “public interest” story. The NYT overstepped their role and have made a massive mistake publishing this story.

They should appear before congress and answer to the American people why they think they alone have the right and responsibility to decide which legal programs are exposed and which are not in this war. They simply are not qualified for that role……….

The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote a letter to the Director of National Intelligence today asking for an assessment of the damages done by unauthorized disclosure of intelligence programs. The press won’t be prosecuted (can’t and should not be) but those who leaked the intelligence may. I’m sure that the NYT will support that since they supported the investigation of leaks related to Valerie Plame and this is a much more serious leak that has done real and massive damage to our intel………………….

Subscribers and advertisers will exact judgment on the press if warranted, as it should be………………..

George Bush Visits STL Wednesday

President Bush will be in STL on Wednesday to raise money for Senator Talents re-election campaign. Per the Post:

President George W. Bush will be in Clayton on Wednesday to help raise campaign money for U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo...............Wednesday's $2,000-a-plate dinner will be at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. Co-chairmen include Andrew Taylor, head of Enterprise Rent-a-Car; Sam Fox, chairman of the Harbour Group; and August A. Busch III, head of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.

That is the STL Red Carpet........It does not get any bigger than that from a STL host perspective...........................

McCaskill is having a snarky and disingenuous event it would appear given the timing the same night per the Post:

McCaskill plans to hold a local fundraiser the same night for the Missouri Military Family Fund.....................

The cause is a great one, but picking the same day the President is in town for Talent proves that Howard Dean is certainly pulling the stings on the McCaskill campaign..........................Howard Dean & Clair McCaskill, that does not have a Missouri ring......................

NY Rep. Calls for Congressional Hearing of NYT

There are in fact now calls from legislative officials, for an investigation of the NYT's for reporting the secrete financial monitoring program used to track terrorist funds. Per BreitBart:

Rep Peter King, R-N.Y., said he would write Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging that the nation's chief law enforcer "begin an investigation and prosecution of The New York Times _ the reporters, the editors and the publisher. We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous," King told The Associated Press.................

The NYT is not returning calls this weekend..........................

King hits the nail on the head here:

He charged that the paper was "more concerned about a left-wing elitist agenda than it is about the security of the American people."

They in fact do have a left-wing elitist agenda and it is in fact damaging to the GWOT efforts that our men and woman are bravely fighting and winning. It's not just Keller and the NYT, it's the majority of the left:

Democrats and civil libertarians are questioning whether the program violated privacy rights.................

Specter already is getting weak knees:

"On the basis of the newspaper article, I think it's premature to call for a prosecution of the New York Times, just like I think it's premature to say that the administration is entirely correct"........................

I'm a huge 1st amendment proponent and think it must be given every doubt and defended vigorously. That said I think we are at or near the point where we have given the NYT every doubt and it's time for them to appear and explain just what the hell they are doing...............Before congress and before the American people so we can see and hear their explanation.............

If the answers are underwhelming, then it's time for advertisers to seriously consider pulling their advertisement currently with the NYT and placing it in other media..............That is the only thing that will change what is occuring currently at the NYT.......................

Hugh Hewitt's Newsweek Article: It's About Being Effective

Newsweek did a piece on Hugh Hewitt titled "The Right: The Next Big Thing:

On July 4, Salem Communications, one of the country's largest radio-station owners, will relaunch an old Web war horse called Townhall.com as a hub for its stable of stars (including Bill Bennett, Michael Medved and Hewitt himself). The hope? That "Web 2.0" wherewithal can transform what was once an op-ed clearinghouse into a single nerve center serving the separate conservative communities of talk radio and the Internet.

The goal:

add 6 million Salem fans to Townhall's 1.4 million unique monthly visitors and you've got an audience six or seven times the size of liberal site Daily Kos, the Web's biggest political blog. "We will overwhelm them," he says.............

How will that occur:

Every day, Salem's nationally syndicated hosts will post show summaries, blog entries and podcasts. On the air, they'll encourage listeners to visit the amped-up "Action Center," where users can "push out" petition alerts on customized e-mail lists, set and track fund-raising goals, contact their elected officials and create personal blogs—a first, DeFeo claims, for a conservative Web site. As Kerry '04 blogmaster Dick Bell has said, "the hosts will act as recruiters for the millions of people listening every day—and that could really change the dynamic in terms of impact.".................

Sounds great, I'm looking forward to the launch. There will be a major difference between Townhall & Daily Kos of course, just as there is a major difference today between the left and right blogs. Per Hewitt:

"It's not about getting people angry," says Hewitt. "It's about being effective."

Indeed. Hewitt has a link up pointed to a lefty site that is already complaining about the article. Talk Left complains they look too angry in the article:

Why the venom towards Markos and the hailing of Hewitt? Both pieces come off as being written by journalists with a right-wing agenda. Even the accompanying photos show the bias. In the piece on Kos, there is no picture of him [added: on the first page of the article] only of Bush protesters in Washington state which has nothing to do with the article. For the Hewitt article, there's a nice calm photo of Hugh in suit and tie standing in front of what could be a courthouse right under the headline. It's like they are equating liberals with anarchy and conservatives with justice................

Why the venom? Well that is a very good question that is looking you square in the mirror Talk Left. Venom is an anger product and seldom is in partnership with effectiveness...........................

Russian Diplomats Beheaded

Four Russian diplomats who were taken hostiage in Iraq were apparently tortured to death and beheaded by the terrorists. Via Gateway Pundit:

In the footage, two men clad in black and wearing black ski masks shout "God is great!" before beheading the first man. Then one militant appears standing over the decapitated body of a second victim lying in a pool of blood, with the head placed on top of the body. The footage of the beheading victims shows a closed room with white walls. The shooting appears outdoors in what looked like an alley between buildings.

The footage was stamped with the logo of al-Qaida. "God's verdict has been carried out on the Russian diplomats ... in revenge for the torture, killing and expulsion of our brothers and sisters by the infidel Russian government," the statement said.

The video begins with a verse from the Quran appearing in white letters on a black screen, and a voice reading "Those who aggress on you, you aggress on them."

Unbelievable sick animals....................How could anyone not be solidly on the side of getting all of these people and removing them for this earth..........

Murtha says U.S. poses top threat to world peace

Rep John Murtha's latest, per the AZ Daily Star:

American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran.......................

Lots of people are saying lots of things about John Murtha these days. This latest statement indicates to me that Murtha is simply insane..................

Missouri Senate Race: McCaskill 49% vs.Talent 43%

Jo Mannis and the St. Louis Post Dispatch have a new poll up on the Talent-McCaskill race that shows McCaskill up 49% to 43%:

Among 800 likely voters polled last week, 49 percent supported state Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, in her quest to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. That compared to 43 percent who favored retaining Talent, who has been in office since 2003. The remaining 8 percent were undecided...............

The 8% undecided and 3.5% margin of error makes this race pretty much a dead heat at this point. The campaigns are just beginning to gear-up and will probably start in earnest in August.

Mannis frames the race up as one focused on "state issues" based on the info learned from the poll, which seems like a strange finding for a Senate election. Per Mannis:

Missouri voters say they're willing to spend more tax dollars to restore Medicaid coverage to 90,000 residents, and strongly support increasing the state's minimum wage for workers. They also continue to overwhelmingly embrace a ballot proposal that would protect many forms of embryonic stem cell research, and one to increase the state's tobacco taxes.

But they disagree with the Republican-led Legislature's recent decisions to eliminate campaign donation limits and a ballot proposal that would require most voters this fall to show government-issued photo identification before they vote...................

Seems logical if it were a Governor or state Rep or Senator race, but this is a US Senator race...............State issues are the key? I find that a strange frame.........

I'm not going to say the poll is wrong but there are some eyebrow raisers right off the bat:

- If a majority of those polled were against the voter ID bill, that tells us that the sample probably had too high of a number of solid democratic voters to be a true reflection of how this race is shaping up. Polling has shown that the voter ID bill had a majority of support after being announced.

- The poll is 36% Dem - 36% Rep - 28% Independent; The Independent percentage seems high to me.

- Region needs much more definition for me on what the break-out is by region area. The north STL country area is strongly democrat and west county is overwhelmingly republican. It would be beneficial to see the STL county break-out to get a real sense of how on target this poll is.

- The biggest indicator that the sample is too heavily dem voters and particularly Independent Dem voters is that Kerry would beat Bush 48% to 40% today.

Again I think the poll population looks a bit suspect but if it is correct I think Talent is still in good shape. He has done a good job and made no mistakes. The Mannis article frames him up on the minority of "all' issues polled however. Here are the issues that defined Talent being on the "wrong side of State issues per the poll:

1) Restore Medicaid Coverage for 90,000 Missouri Residents: 66% vs. 23%

2) Strongly Support Increasing the State's Minimum Wage for Workers: 66% vs. 21%

3) Overwhelmingly Embrace Many Forms of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: 62% vs. 35%

4) Increase Tobacco Taxes: 62% vs. 30%

(Education was #1, Avoiding Tax Increases was #3, so things are not really being tied together real well with the poll - its a bit "off")

The Pollster summed the "state issues" up as:

Pollster Del Ali is head of the Maryland-based firm Research 2000, which conducts polls for a number of media outlets. He said McCaskill is benefiting, at the moment, from the fact that on all the issues mentioned above, she "is on the side of the majority." Talent sides with the poll's minority in opposition to the proposal that would protect all forms of stem cell research in the state allowed under federal law. Talent has taken no position on the other ballot measures or the Legislature's actions.................

Well probably because they are state issues-measures and not Senate measures. Perhaps National and International issues should have had more poll-time in a Senate poll......................Funny, it looks like the poll is telling us that on state issues McCaskill is with the majority and as a state Auditor you would hope-expect that..................McCaskill sounds like a good "state" candidate although she lost the Governor election to Blunt in 2004.........

That will be the deciding factor..............Talent is a Senator and has done a good job, McCaskill is a state level official who has done a good job at the state level. Talent has national experience and presence, McCaskill does not............McCaskill's only hope will probably be that Talent gets swept up in a "Republican Replacement Wave".............

I don't think the replacement wave will happen but Missouri will once again be the bell weather state for this election. If Talent does fall behind once the election starts in earnest then that will be bad news for republicans on a nation-wide level. If he pulls ahead when the campaign begins and wins then the republicans should hold on to both the House & Senate................

Mannies & Del Ali warn us that a political race might break out soon and warns that Talent could go negative:

But Talent has the cash. His last campaign report, filed in April, showed him with more than twice as much in the bank as McCaskill. President George W. Bush is traveling to St. Louis on Wednesday to help Talent raise even more. Ali said that a financial advantage could help Talent build up his image, while damaging McCaskill's. But he added that voters' stances on the issues could be a trump card.

Speaking of Bush, he had a 39% vs. 60% favorable in the poll and he is coming to STL next week. That tells us that there are other polls out there that tell much different results...................

Stay tuned to Missouri's Bell-Weather Senator race............................

---------------------update---------------------------------

Another reason I think this poll may have some potential problems with the sample is the latest Rasmussen poll shows Bush at 44% vs. 55%, via Wizbang

So nationally Bush approval is at 44% but in Missouri he is at 39%? Again I think there might be some sample issues.................

-------------update-----------------------

Wall Street & Zogby show Talent up 49% vs. 43%, just the opposite of the STL poll..................

Jo Mannies is back-peddling all over herself to the point of falling down over the Post Dispatch Talent-McCaskill poll:

As political activists mull over the results of the latest Research 2000 poll, conducted last week for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV, some are likely aware of a different set of numbers released Friday by Zogby International and the Wall Street Journal..........................

Well Jo, yes we sniffed out the bad sample in the STL Post poll right away................The Kerry over Bush question was the dead give away.......................

Bottom line is it's either dead even or Talent up 49% vs. 43% like six months ago. I say it's more like it was six months ago ..................

Can the Post get this right and start reporting things square? This is really embarrassing for the Post.........."sad"..........................I think this is the most embarrassing moment for the Post in recent times..............pathetic......................

One would think that advertising and subscription numbers are in the balance.............................

The "poll" is being discussed on the Political Fix Blog

How can a newspaper get polling results that send up so many red flags, and still run with it? I simply do not understand how that can occur.............

Saddam on New Hunger Strike

Saddam Hussein went on another hunger strike Wednesday to protest one of his attorney's murder per breitbart:

Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants went on a hunger strike Wednesday to protest the killing of a top attorney on the ousted Iraqi leader's defense team......................

Saddam Hussein went on a hunger strike back in February of this year and that one didn't last too long, just 11 days...................

As I recall, Saddam had a real addition to junk-food:

It turns out Saddam Hussein is a joke-telling, junk food-addicted neat freak who enjoys scribbling poetry and dispensing fatherly dating advice. Five National Guardsmen who were assigned to Saddam's guard detail told GQ magazine that he inhales Doritos by the bagful, cleans everything with baby wipes before he eats, and likes to start his day with a bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch. "No Froot Loops!" he would say when offered a substitute for his breakfast cereal of choice..................

"The Butcher of Baghdad is addicted to Doritos, especially soggy ones"........................Nasty....................I'd give this hunger strike less than 11 days until the craving for "soggy Doritos" gets the best of Saddam...........................

Someone should probably explain to Saddam that an act of non-violent civil disobedience such as a hunger strike by a violent murderous Dictators, is usually not a good fit and almost never provides the results one is looking for...................Sort of like a soggy Doritos for most of us..........

Mr. Baseball Bob Uecker Stalked?

I'm sure that anyone can become a victim of "stalking" but Bob Uecker? Yes per this AP article in the Ledger-Enquirer:

A 45-year-old woman has been charged with stalking Hall of Fame announcer Bob Uecker. Ann E. Ladd was charged with the felony on Tuesday in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. An arrest warrant was issued for her on the same day, according to court documents. Uecker, the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers for more than 35 years, filed a temporary restraining order against Ladd earlier this month, contending she had been harassing him for years. Two civil hearings in the matter, including one on Tuesday, were rescheduled because the defendant could not be located.

Weird...........................

TSG has more including letters from Ladd & the court order.

Uecker is better know for his humor and acting than his baseball. His fame has grown greater since his retirement from baseball. Uecker has done play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers for 35 years. His undistinguished career became his stick in commercials, most notably the Miller Lite commercials. He had a five year career on TV sitcom Mr. Belvedere but my favorite Uecker role was as the play-by-play man in Major League.....................

Uecker actually won a World Series here in STL as a member of the 1964 STL Cardinals..........................

Could the NYT Swift Scrub Story Help Bush?

An interesting perspective from the George Mason HNN blog:

Those who believe that Bill Keller and his fellow powers that be in the New York Times are motivated by Bush hatred must think again. For their revelation that Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror " is going to help Bush and the Republicans while undermining the ability of the international community to use technology to fight terror....................

How so? When compared to the anemic efforts of the former administration, it becomes even more clear Bush is doing everything possible to protect the country and win the war:

Taken together with the NSA revelations, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the US was repeatedly hit during the Clinton administration because it failed to use the tools at its disposal and has not been hit because the Bush administration did not. Moreover, while Bill Clinton turned down the opportunity to try Bin Laden because it lacked the evidence it needed to bring him to justice, the tools used by the Bush administration led to the capture of terrorists both here and abroad AND to their successful prosecution................

This latest revelation shows once again that Bush and his administration have and continue to go all out in the GWOT and are more interested in winning the war than political polls or favorable left of center newspaper headlines:

Ironically, this so called "political" administration repeatedly put the good of the country ahead of its political interest not only by keeping the lid on these programs but by appealing humbly to the NYT editors sense of patriotism. They failed repeatedly................

The timing of the story also had suspicious timing just like the secrete prison story by Dana Priest of WaPo:

For this revelation, like the Washington Post rendition, seeks to undermine US-EU cooperation. Dana Priest published her article following the election of pro-American Angela Merkel and during the fence mending trip of the new Secretary Rice to Europe. The NYT revelation followed the "unexpectedly" successful President Bush's trip to Europe.......................

Also Powerline has a link to Ace of Spades that looks at the pro-democrat motive of the article and others like it........

Per Ace:

The left continues to undermine national security in the most despicable, cynical way. I'm quite sure the reasonable liberals at the NYT and WaPo know full well that programs like this are absolutely vital, and their secrecy is likewise vital. However, they have made the most anti-American and evil sort of decision: While tools like this are vital for saving American lives, they will not permit any Republican President to use them. Only Democratic Presidents are permitted to employ the full panoply of powers for protecting American lives.

It's blackmail, pure and simple. Either let a Democrat into the White House, or we will continue to sabotage American security and, in effect, kill Americans. We will keep secrets when a Democrat is in office, but not a Republican. So we offer the American people a choice: Let the politicians we favor run the country, or we will help Al Qaeda murder you.

Powerline:

I think this is actually the subtext not only of the leaks, but of a lot of news coverage. If you don't want news coverage that constantly deprecates the economy, for example, and thereby undermines consumer confidence, the solution is simple: elect Democrats.

Ther story is obviously intended to hurt Bush and the GWOT efforts, but it might not work out that way............................

NYT's Swift Scrub Editorial Explanation

Today's round-up of the NYT "Swift Scrub" article:

NRO's MediaBlog:

Takes a look at the NYT editorial and proves in its own explanation that there was no need to publish the story:

If the Swift executives were the ones to argue for controls, we should be happy to know that those running Swift are in fact good, ethical people. Trying to turn this around on the executive branch — because it didn't first ask for these controls that are now happily in place — shows how illogically intent the NYT is on taking down the Bush administration....................

In the end that is of course what this is all about, taking down the Bush administration.............

Media Blog also looks at the letters to the Editor which appear to be overwhelmingly negative on the decision. This one seems to sum-up what most people think about the matter:

I'd rather know that the bad guys were being caught than having my "interest" in this story satisfied over this morning's cup of coffee................

Lastly MediaBlog makes the sound argument that the government looks at and stores every single one of our financial data every April via those IRS returns......

Powerline has a link to a financial analysis of the cost the NYT is paying for their decidedly left of center focus and editorial decisions:

From a business standpoint, the Times' embrace of far-left politics on page one has been a disaster. I'm reminded of the analysis Michael Medved did years ago, showing that the movie studios' preference for R-rated and X-rated movies is not driven, as popularly believed, by economics. Newspapers like the Times, just like Hollywood, are willing to sacrifice their own economic interests in service of what they think is a higher value. I wonder, though, whether the owners of the Times Company's Class B shares, to whom the Sulzberger family owes a fiduciary duty, share the paper's disdain for profit..................

In the end the economic impact of such a blatant politically left agenda is probably the only thing that can change their agenda............Given this latest story I think that could not be any clearer............................

Congressional Hearing Time for the NYT on Swift Scrub

Sounds to me that it's time for a "congressional hearing"........................Not a law that infringes on the constitutional right of a free press, no one wants that and it would be illegal. I personally would not stand for such a thing. I want a very free and strong press but I also want them to be more interested in the safety and security of Americans than the banking privacy of terrorists, that is a requirement that comes with the privilege and responsibility of being the press..........We need "serious" hearing to see why they are not upholding their duty granted to them via the constitution...........This is indeed a serious matter...................

It's time for Keller and NYT management to appear before congress and explain just what the hell they are doing and why...................Tell the American people why they are putting us in danger for a "public interest" focus on a story that effect .000009% of us from a personal information perspective, and was legal. This is no longer about the NYT going after Bush, this now is about the NYT going after every American and putting us in danger because of their deranged "Attack Bush on Everything Mentality". Enough already, it's time for some serious hearings on this matter and it should occur in Congress for all of America to see.....................

News-Flash for Keller and the NYT, its more in my interest to know who is planning to bomb us again and where than to know about the "Swift Scrub" that effects almost zero percent of our fellow Americans...........................

-------------------Update---------------------

I'm saying pretty much the same thing as Hugh Hewitt per his latest post What Does the Congress Think of the New York Times' Assist to Terrorists :

Perhaps the papers would find some supporters among the congressmen and senators, but I believe that a strongly worded condemnation of the papers'actions would pass, and would as Bill argued, send the message that it isn't the Bush Adminsitration the papers are defying, but the legislative branch as well. And then let's have some new hearings on the federal press shield law. If the papers really believe they deserve it, let them send their editors to defend that proposition........

Exactly, it is not against Bush they rage, but against every American on this matter......................................

NYT: Exposes that Legal Intel Program that Should Be Illegal?

The “matter of public interest” that Keller lists as the reason the NYT ran the story, is in fact the reason that everyone is reading about the story currently. It is what drives the media to gather and produce news and the consumption of news by consumers. It seems to me however, that the impact and effects of publishing such a story also have to be considered.

In both the NYT article and in the LA Times article, both state that the program as “legal”. So if the program is legal but a classified and a valuable intelligence tool that has been directly credited with capturing a high level terrorist (Riduan Isamuddin – Bali Resort bombing mastermind) and providing many valuable leads, then it seems to me that the security of the country and value this program added probably out weights the “public interest” argument issued by Keller…………….

The President through his spokesperson said he was concerned that the NYT had decided to run a story that revealed a classified program that helped protect the American people, via NY Sun:

"The president is concerned that, once again, the New York Times has chosen to expose a classified program that is protecting the American people," a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said last night. "We know that terrorists look for any clue about the weapons we're using to fight them and now, with this exposure, they have more information and it increases the challenge for our law enforcement and intelligence officials."

Treasury Secretary Snow via the LATimes:

"This is government at its best," said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow. "It's responsible government It's government that works This is a program that makes Americans and the world safer." John Snow called it "regrettable" that the program had been made public. "That can only help the terrorists," said Snow, whose department runs the program……….

A former CIA official cited by the LATimes:

A former high-ranking CIA officer said it has been a success, and another official said it has allowed U.S. counterterrorism officials to follow a tremendous number of leads. CIA officials pursue leads overseas, and the FBI and other agencies pursue leads in the United States, where the CIA is prohibited from operating……………….

This story seems to prove to me that there probably is no story regardless of intelligence gathering significant, that would win out over the NYT’s “public interest” singular focus on this topic. Public Interest is an admirable quality almost always, but not in the case where a legal and valuable program is the story and exposing it damages the war against terrorists and terrorism.

Telling terrorists about a legal & classified intelligence gathering program in the name of “public interest” is more important than the intel such a legal program provides in the war against terrorism? Not in my opinion…………......It actually sounds like a crime..............

-----------------Update-----------------------------------

Per this NYT story, here are some details on what was monitored and what was not. It also reveals the "HUGE" value that this program provided in the effort to track terrorists and their money:

The cooperative's message traffic allows investigators, for example, to track money from the Saudi bank account of a suspected terrorist to a mosque in New York. Starting with tips from intelligence reports about specific targets, agents search the database in what one official described as a "24-7" operation. Customers' names, bank account numbers and other identifying information can be retrieved, the officials said.

The data does not allow the government to track routine financial activity, like A.T.M. withdrawals, confined to this country, or to see bank balances, Treasury officials said. And the information is not provided in real time — Swift generally turns it over several weeks later. Because of privacy concerns and the potential for abuse, the government sought the data only for terrorism investigations and prohibited its use for tax fraud, drug trafficking or other inquiries, the officials said.......

I think the NYT has made a "massive mistake" on this one...........................

500 Deliverable WMD Found in Iraq

We have found 500 deliverable weapons in Iraq that contained WMD, per FOX:

The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday. ...........................

Of course the anti-war, anti-Iraq argument will now move to the claim that the weapons were old and limited. Well OK, we can debate that...............however, there is no debate on whether one of the central pillars of the left's argument has been removed: there were WMD's in Iraq.............That arrow has been removed from the quiver.......

I think that as the report is made public more serious and damaging info will come to light on the WMD issue. Watch the rats run up their position to a new spot and try to defend it..........................................

Why the delay in reporting the WMD's? I think because of concern that they could have been used against our troops as we began to understand that they were in fact in Iraq and we secured them. Also, I think we have only heard the intro on the whole story......................................................

Dan Rather to Prove Cuban's Claim: NBA Fixed?

By now everyone has heard that Dan Rather's days at CBS are over:

CBS is expected to announce Tuesday that former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather will leave the company after 44 years at the network. Rather's contract runs through November but he is expected to leave the network immediately to pursue other opportunities.............

The interesting part of the story seems to be that Rather may become a blogger and join Mark Cuban's HDNet:

Rather is said to be talking to others about opportunities, including doing a one-hour newscast/interview show for HDNet. HDNet chief Mark Cuban confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that he was talking to the former CBS News anchor...............

Speaking of Cuban, after his team went down 3-2 against the Heat, Cuban is claiming that the NBA is fixed:

Cuban then turned to Stern and other NBA officials who were seated at the scorer's table and was overheard to shout venomously in the jubilant din, ``[Bleep] you! [Bleep] you! Your league is rigged!''

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald makes a great observation over the location of the Dallas team and the greatest of grassy knoll conspiracies:

There could not be a more perfect locale than Dallas for these NBA Finals to resume tonight. Just a few miles from the basketball arena is the infamous grassy knoll, national Mecca of conspiracy theorists. We presume that when the Mavericks' owner, coach and players talk these days about looking at film, it might not be game film but rather Abraham Zapruder's grainy home movie...........

Now back to the Rather-Cuban possible partnership. I believe that the biggest of recent conspiracy frauds blossomed and then fell apart in Texas back in the fall of 2004 via Rather's last story........................If Rather does join Cuban's HDNet, can a Lucy Ramirez "type" giving Rather documents at a live stock auction that proves the NBA is in fact fixed, be far off...................

------------Update-------------------------------------

Look for the Cuban "NBA Fixed" story to "heat-up"......................95-92 Miami wins the championship.................grassy knoll rocket juice............

------------Update--------------------------------------

WaPo has a wrap on Hurrican Dan's career written by Howard Kurtz. It includes a quote from Cuban:

"We hope to do a deal where he produces a show that uncovers news. Information with a payoff. . . . I will tell you that there won't be any corporate considerations. No earnings per share issues. No worries about advertisers and what they might think," Cuban wrote....................

God help us.............the Rather - Cuban connection could be "very" entertaining................

Cuban responds to the NBA rigged claim over at his blog maverick:

Two other things. Apparently the Miami Herald is reporting i screamed at the NBA comissioner after the game the other night. Didnt happen. Didnt say a word to the man. Not a single word. And that was absolutely by intention. Apparently this “reporter” has written he has several “sources”. Well they must be the same sources the tabloids use to find two headed babys and aliens, because it didnt happen...............

Rather, Cuban and stories about two headed babies and aliens...................can't wait.........................

State of Iraq Via a Dead Al-Zarqawi's Secrets

Great news from Iraq is coming out from the intel found around a blown-up Al-Zarqawi, per AP/MyWay:

Iraq's national security adviser said Thursday a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records was seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout, giving the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.............

Huge is good...............more:

National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie also said he believed the security situation in the country would improve enough to allow a large number of U.S.-led forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year, and a majority to depart by the end of next year. "And maybe the last soldier will leave Iraq by mid-2008," he said.........

That would be a very positive development............

"We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.................

The "beginning of the end" is obviously a best case scenario, but it's promising and a good thing for Iraqis and the whole rest of the world..............This deal is getting closer to being done......................

Keith Olbermann Emails - So What..........

I'm certainly no fan of Keith Olbermann, he's a tin foil hat no talent hack.............That said, I don't see what all the fuss is over the Olbermann Emails, via NYDaily:

Keith Olbermann's vacation isn't going so well. He was forced to apologize yesterday after more of his E-mails found their way to my inbox and exposed the host of MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" as insulting and frequently obscene in an acrimonious exchange with two viewers who taunted him.............Olbermann's antagonists, who asked not to be named, repeatedly claimed in their June 8 E-mails that dead Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero,"....

Here is how Tin foil Keith reported responded:

"Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself."...............................

Harsh no doubt and not the most "professional" response...................that said, who cares? No one watches Olbermann, so isn't it sort of like the question "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there, does it make a sound"?.................................

I see the whole thing as a non-event......................................Lay off the tin foil hat man, the comment wasn't that big of a deal...........................However, this is the most prime time coverage Keith has gotten in years so maybe he is good with it..............

Scientists Say: Gore Full of Junk Science

Lots of scientists are distancing themselves from Mr. Gore and his "The Inconvenient Truth" movie and Global Warming Campaign, via Canada Free Press:

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention." .............

The article goes on to bait the question that surely Carter is simply just one very out-of-touch scientist:

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of "climate change skeptics" who disagree with the "vast majority of scientists" Gore cites? No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. "Climate experts" is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's "majority of scientists" think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field...................

Carter later in the article lays out the junk science charge:

Carter does not pull his punches about Gore's activism, "The man is an embarrassment to US science and its many fine practitioners, a lot of whom know (but feel unable to state publicly) that his propaganda crusade is mostly based on junk science." .....................

Gore is a nut, no doubt about that.............He seems to be loving this "Gore-fest"..................

More Corruption Finds Dem Pols

Another Democratic politician (former in this case but the crimes were committed while in office), via Gateway and reported by WSBTV:

Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Cambell was sentenced to 30 months in prison and one year of supervised release and fined $6,300 for tax evasion. As the sentencing hearing opened today, Campbell's attorneys acknowledged that the former mayor failed to report more than $40,000 in income between 1997 and 1999. They said that included $20,000 in cash payments Campbell claims were gifts from his mother.

The "culture of corruption" keeps surrounding the dems and finding them as the home base in recent times...................

Missouri Dem Attorney General Returns Donations From Utility He Was Investigating

The Missouri Attorney General has a problem and it's a "BIG" problem. Jay Nixon, the AG for Missouri and a democrat who is planning to run against sitting Governor Matt Blunt (Rep) in 2008, took $19,100 from Ameren UE, the utility company that he and his office is investigating over a major dam failure and disaster and actually were in the negotiation stage at the time of the donations per the KC Star:

At the time the donations were made, Nixon’s office was negotiating with Ameren over damages caused by collapse of the Taum Sauk reservoir. The reservoir collapse devastated the Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park and injured the park superintendent and his family....................

The $19,100 donation from Ameren UE made it's way to Nixon's campaign coffers via four "seldom used democratic committees" in STL, per the Star:

The controversy stems from four contributions of $5,000 each that Ameren Corp. made from January through March to four little-used Democratic political committees in the St. Louis area. Ameren is Missouri’s largest power company. On March 31, three of those committees — the 77th State Representative District Democratic Committee, the 73rd District Democratic Legislative Committee and the 24th Senatorial Democratic Committee — each donated $4,800 to Nixon. The fourth — the Democratic Central Committee of Lincoln County — donated $4,700 to Nixon..................

So the question now is did Nixon know the donation came from the utility company he was investigating for a major and significant failure? If he knew the money was from Ameren then not only is his Governorship bid in 2008 over, so is his service as Attorney General. I'm not aware of whether there could be criminal issues with such a donation knowingly being accepted, but it seems there should be. I'm sure that those who understand the Missouri law related to such a matter will begin to inform us on that aspect in the coming days, and I'm looking to see what I can find on that point as well. I'd be astonished if there were no laws preventing an AG from knowingly accepting campaign contributions from a company or individual that they were assigned to prosecute for a crime..............There has to be a law against that...............

Per the KC Star, Nixon had absolute power and the "only" say on whether Ameren would be prosecuted:

At the time the donations were made, Nixon’s office was negotiating with Ameren over damages caused by collapse of the Taum Sauk reservoir. The reservoir collapse devastated the Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park and injured the park superintendent and his family. Federal investigators said in a recent report that Ameren knew of critical problems at Taum Sauk and delayed repairs that could have prevented the collapse. Nixon was assigned as special prosecutor in the case and is the only authority who could press criminal charges against Ameren or file a lawsuit on behalf of the state.

Even if Nixon was unaware of the contributions coming from Ameren (which I believe disclosure is required but that clarification also will be disclosed in the coming days and I'm researching that point as well), then the question becomes who in the Missouri Democratic party did the dirty work of funneling the Ameren money to Nixon via these committee funds? They knew where the money came from and what Nixon was doing with Ameren...........Lots to learn about those involved in funneling this money..............

This is a huge & major development for all Democratic candidates and Dem politicians in Missouri and it's all very bad. Given the steady recent drip of corruption related revelations associated with the Dems the past few weeks, I don't think that there could be a worse story than an Dem Attorney General taking money from a major utility company that the AG is investigating for an awful failure that has harmed the state seriously.................Gas & energy prices are one of the top issues on the voters minds and they are very angry about it and you have an AG taking money from a utility that they are investigating???? This looks like one explosive and very dirty-nasty development that could be a Dem party killer in MO beyond 2006 & 2008...........................Stay tuned this one has serious legs.................

--------Update----------------------------

mogop has a post up here)

He should’ve refunded them promptly when they were uncovered. Instead he insisted initially that Ameren’s donations would not influence his investigation. This one was a no-brainer. Prime-time Nixon? Time to pick up the pace, general,” the Kansas City Star’s Steve Kraske said. Meanwhile, Tony Messenger at the Springfield News-Leader weighed in with this: “The attorney general is stuck in an ethical quagmire of his own. The same attorney general who recently called on Gov. Matt Blunt to veto a new campaign finance law because of donation loopholes is benefiting (sic) from the loopholes that exist in the current law.” Jay Nixon’s arrogance has at long last been exposed by the media and it’s likely this won’t be the last time.......

Insisting that the donations would not influence the AG? Is he serious?..........Not buying it Nixon........................

------------------Update---------------------------

The Missouri Republican State Committee has filed an ethics complaint over Nixon's acceptance of Ameren political donations, per the News Tribune:

The ethics complaint says Nixon illegally concealed campaign donations. The complaint names Nixon and the treasurers of the four campaign committees as violating state ethics laws. “Somebody made all this happen,” said Jared Craighead, executive director of the Republican state committee.............

Craighead is right, "somebody" did make this all happen and we need to know exactly who made it happen and what Nixon knew and when he knew it...................

-----------------update---------------------------

Nixon is not going to recuse himself in the Ameren investigation at this point although the DNR Director Doyle Childers has asked him to, via the Post:

Nixon's attorney Edward Ardini sent a prompt reply to Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers, insisting Nixon will continue the Taum Sauk investigation and accusing Childers' boss, Gov. Matt Blunt, of also having close ties to Ameren..............

Nixon's defense for taking money from Ameren while he is investigating them? Gov Blunt's "brother" is a lobbyist for Ameren..............So what, he works for the utility as he is free to do..............he nor the Governor are the State Attorney General investigating them............a total unrelated attempt to deflect the attention on this very serious matter that resides with Nixon............

Childer's summed it up best:

"The governor is not my attorney," Childers said, noting that Nixon is pursuing Ameren on behalf of the state. "I am deeply resentful for having my attorney take money from my adversary, and I think it's a very serious ethical issue." ................

Indeed.................................

First Marine Report-Out on Haditha

The first report from the Marines on the ground at Haditha, as to what exactly happened there via WaPo:

A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings, his attorney said. Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his attorney that several civilians were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house. The Marine said there was no vengeful massacre, but he described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.................

The statement comes via Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich's attorney, but it is the first direct report I've read from a Marine on the ground at Haditha on what exactly happened there, and the article confirms that. Finally we have statements from people on the ground there, instead of pontifications from politicians and MSM reporters who have tried to use the story as an attack on the entire effort in Iraq. Many in the blogosphere have cautioned to proceed slowly on this story until the first hand facts started coming out. Of course the anti-Iraq ammo was to tempting for the anti-GWOT crowd to wait for facts, so ahead they ran..............

Josh White states later in the article that:

Three Marine officers have been relieved of command. In the absence of a public response from Marine Corps officials -- who are declining to comment to preserve the integrity of the investigation -- reports of what happened in the western Iraqi town have been leaking out piecemeal from the Haditha neighborhood and in Washington............

Where has that Haditha & Washington piecemeal drip been coming from? Well the biggest Washington source has been Murtha who stated even before the story had broken that our Marines' were cold blooded killers".........................What the hell is wrong with that former Marine and current US Rep? What a crime for a man who claims to support the troops to say that the Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" before the story had fully been reported let alone the facts.............If this is proven to be a mistake but not intentional, Murtha should resign in the disgrace that already defines who he has become..................

What about the Haditha eye witnesses? Well the credibility of Ali al-Mashhadani is very much in question at this point. Andrew Walden has the recap:

Ali al-Mashhadani, an Iraqi journalist reporting on the Haditha incident was recently re-arrested by the Marines for suspected insurgent ties. He was held for 12 days. Al-Mashhadani had earlier been held for five months beginning August 8, 2005 and ending in January, 2006. According to Reuters, “Among Mashhadani's recent stories was reporting from the town of Haditha in March. Following Time magazine's revelation of accusations that U.S. Marines shot dead 24 civilians there in November, he filmed fresh interviews with local officials and residents that were widely used by international media.” ..................This video is the source of all the images being spread across the international media purporting to show the aftermath of the Haditha incident. The “internationally respected” Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been accused of anti-Israel bias and is funded by numerous left-wing foundations including George Soros’ Open Society Institute. HRW accuses US forces of “torture” in Iraq and Afghanistan which, in one report, it defines as, “interrogation techniques including hooding, stripping detainees naked, subjecting them to extremes of heat, cold, noise and light, and depriving them of sleep….” HRW advocates putting US soldiers under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court--a foreign-controlled judiciary.

So excuse me at this point for giving more credibility to the United States military and their investigative process rather than Ali al-Mashhadani, Murtha, Soros, the MSM and the Open Society Institute.................

If these guys jumped out of their socks once again to slime the military and the war effort and it's proven to be a false charge, I hope they are finally held accountable by a growing majority of Americans for the serious harm they continue to do................

Army Surpasses Recruitment Goal for Twelfth Straight Month

Under the topic: MSM coverage does not come close in telling the "real picture", news that the Army has surpassed their recruitment quota for the 12th consecutive month:

The Army said Friday it surpassed its recruiting goal for May, marking the 12th consecutive month of meeting or exceeding its target..............

Now one would think that things were not going well on this topic from the various negative reports coming from the MSM, and there was a time when recruitment quota were not being met:

Before it began the streak in June 2005, the active Army had missed its target four consecutive months.................

So if we are on a run of twelve straight months of the Army making it's quota, why is the MSM stuck in a mindset and coverage angle that is so out-dated? I suppose it's all about mind-set and agenda, but it has nothing to do with the truth as the facts clearly show on this topic.................Just another example of why one should use extreme caution when getting their military coverage from the MSM............

No Second Round Tickets for Ahmadinejad to World Cup?

Looks pretty likely that the political nuclear bomb from having Iranian President Ahmadinejad make a visit at the World Cup, won't happen after the Iranian's received a whipping via Mexico in round one, per WaPo:

Iran started strong and played to a tie in the first half, but succumbed completely to a Mexican onslaught in the second half and suffered a 3-1 defeat. With Portugal considered by many the favorite in Group D, and neophyte Angola a considerable underdog, this game was considered to be extremely important. This result, and Iran's already troubling goal differential, has Mexico in great stead............

Not having Ahmadinejad at the World Cup is a good thing.....................way too deep of scars and anti-Semitism history in Germany to have the current version of anti-Semitism hate making an appearance center stage at the event hosted in Germany................

On an immigration related point, why isn't America's soccer team better given the Mexican nationalist talent that should be available to the team?

Current Culture of Corruption Coming from the Left

A growing list of Dem political scandals has been put together over at Gateway Pundit...........

Even with the scandals on the right getting more press time, the recent trend has such scandals coming from the left and the recent trend will not fit in well with the "culture of corruption" campaign theme the left was hoping to use in 2006......

Looks like it's time for a new theme............

I Had Never Cheered a Human Death Prior to Zarqawi's

Was killing the terrorist leader in Iraq and for that matter the most active leader of terrorism in the world (until Wed that is) important and a huge success? Well of course, this is a very important and positive development. Rummy compared al-now dead-Zarqawi to Hitler from the perspective of being a monster capable of hideously inhuman acts against other humans....................I'd say that's about spot on...............Remember this guy personally cut people's heads off and taped it on video, and killed thousands of other innocent people and many American soldiers.......He is dead and that is an extremely positive thing............

I have never been happy or had a celebratory reaction to "any" person's death until Wed when I heard the news that we had killed Zarqawi and I suspect that many other people share that exact scenario with me.............................It's the right emotion to cheer the death of such a monster...........

Will the violence in Iraq end with the death of Zarqawi? No, it might even spike for a period of time but taking out the evil-monster-leader of the insurgency has to be a "huge" plus and "could" very well lead to a very important and positive trend in Iraq............Lots of Next Generation Terrorist are Already Dead............

Of course the anti-any-war crowd is not happy about Zarqawi's death because it's good news for the GWOT and the war in Iraq. They have been trying to spin it into a non-event in the MSM and online because it's not good for their cause........I don't understand that and don't want to..............I reject it completely.......

Anyone who tries to marginalize for their political agenda the death of a monster who is on par with the worst terrorists of history in terms of rejecting the human code and doing the horrible things that Zarqawi did, has an extremely sick and very questionable home base I'd say..........................How do misguided souls get to that place? What a feeble and discredited place to reside.....................................

So You Want to New Media?

The Post Dispatch blog has info on a Town Hall announcement by the DNC. It's pretty sad, and way behind the curve. Here is the direct link to the Town Hall. Get out of the way, we have some real hard charging new media savvy people here.......................


It seems to me, politics aside to be a sad announcement that is much like a buggy and horse trying to catch an automobile..................An online town hall is so far behind what is happening online currently, way behind.......... Not that it's a bad thing, its in fact a good thing but also such a 5+ year ago thing and far less effective then what the leading participants are deploying.........................Politicians that did not establish a strong blog and online presence communicating with the new media users some time ago are paddling upstream. Online town halls via the national party I don't think will close the gap for them, regardless of party...................

Online news is now the Top Source For News:

Not surprisingly, newspaper use peaked in the morning; that print media was consumed by 17 percent of the subjects between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. When this media was combined with Web consumption, the potential reach for advertisers climbed to 44 percent. During the same morning period, the number of consumers using magazines jumped from 7 percent to 39 percent, and from 44 percent to 62 percent for television.................

Then new media is becoming the medium for a majority of news at an astounding rate. If politicians are deploying a online town hall as their latest new media initiative, then they are the far left-flat placement of the "bell curve" when it comes to communicating via the new media..............................................

Canadian Terrorists Arrested With Three Times the Ammonium Nitrate Used at OK City

Chilling news from north of the border, where Canadian officials arrested 17 suspected terrorist suspects who were planning some major fire works, per Fox:

Canadian police foiled a homegrown terrorist attack by arresting 17 suspects, apparently inspired by Al Qaeda, who obtained three times the amount of explosive ingredients used in the Oklahoma City bombing, officials said Saturday. ...................

Did you catch that? These guys had "THREE TIMES" the amount of ammonium nitrate that was used to blow-up the Murrah Federal building in OK City in 1995............................Can you imagine the damage caused by such an explosion?

One of the suspects brother is quoted as stating: "He's not a terrorist, come on. He's a Canadian citizen," Chand said. "The people that were arrested are good people, they go to the mosque, they go to school, go to college."..............................I don't think Chand should pursue a career in legal defense, because his statement of defense does not give one the vision of falsely accused people, given the history we have seen of those committing the current terrorist crimes............Going to the Mosque and attending school/college, seems to be the things terrorist have most in common regardless of who they are........................

Pajamas Media has a comprehensive post up covering the story including lots of blog responses. The insanity of the NSA objections is taken on by Conferate Yankee:

What authorities are not saying—and will almost certainly not confirm—is the distinct possibility that this plot was uncovered via the NSA foreign intelligence surveillance program that the NY Times tried to label a “domestic spying” program. As most international communications into North America filter through U.S. switching equipment, it seems logical that if international communications were involved, the NSA would be the lead agency handing off information their counterparts in Canadian border police and intelligence agencies.

CNN also suggests—but doesn’t support—is that this raid could be tied to the London terror raid conducted Friday that foiled a suspected chemical weapons plot........................

How insane is the view by the left that NSA is not needed or legal? This is yet another example of the real and true threats we face in the GWOT...............not only is NAS legal and within the Presidents constitutional power, this is yet another example of why it is so critical..........It's what, about a 500 miles drive from Toronto to New York?...........................

-------------------------------update-------------------------

Captain Quarters has a post up with relative points on how NSA like intel gathering helped stop this tragedy along with links to others making the same points (here):

The issue of Internet monitoring has some in the US uncomfortable about breaches of privacy. However, the terrorists use that as a decentralized communication method, and a willful refusal to investigate these communications is sheer folly, as this raid attests. Should the Canadians have eschewed their investigation -- and waited until this group killed hundreds or thousands of people before knowing anything about them? The Internet is not a private network, as some could argue the phone systems provide. Communications are not point-to-point but broadcast, and the expectation of privacy in Internet communications should have disappeared long ago.

If we want to catch these people before they strike, then we had better know when, where, and how they communicate for coordination and recruitment, and be prepared to stop them as the CSIS has apparently done today. (via Stop The ACLU

UPDATE: ThreatsWatch notes this development as well, and reminds Americans that the CSIS is not unlike the NSA.......................

Not investigating these communications would be sheer folly, and would be the actions of foolish people and those trying to become victims....................

------------------------update-----------------------------

The Toronto Star is reporting that internet intel and spying provided the leads for the police to break the case:

The chain of events began two years ago, sparked by local teenagers roving through Internet sites, reading and espousing anti-Western sentiments and vowing to attack at home, in the name of oppressed Muslims here and abroad...............Their words were sometimes encrypted, the Internet sites where they communicated allegedly restricted by passwords, but Canadian spies back in 2004 were reading them. And as the youths' words turned into actions, they began watching them........

So NSA like spying was the tool needed to prevent this terrorist attack..............And if you were thinking these guys might not be full blown jihadists, think again:

They traveled north to a "training camp" and made propaganda videos imitating jihadists who had battled in Afghanistan. At night, they washed up at a Tim Hortons nearby............................

When you have travels to training camps and jihadist videos, you have full blown jihadists........................This was a very serious risk and we are very fortunate that the authorities were using all the intel tools at their disposal to catch them. I'll repeat the painfully obvious, how could any rational person not support the NSA?

The Star is also reporting that one of the targets that hit close to home with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service:

The group arrested yesterday allegedly had a list of targets, sources have told the Star, and the Toronto headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was one of them. So were the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and a smattering of other high-profile, heavily populated areas................

-------------------------update------------------------

A piece of the jihadists puzzle I'd forgotten makes the Canadian ground zero location of this attempted terrorist attack make chilling sense, per Partisan Times.com:

Shortly after 9/11, Osama bin Laden named five "Christian nations" that should be targeted for terrorist attacks: the United States, Britain, Spain, Australia, and Canada. Four of those five countries have been hit; Canada was to be next......................

Technically, Australia was attacked outside its borders, but targeted none-the-less..........................

They mean to follow-through, so the GWOT must have the focus to stop them.........

CA Dem Candidate Tells Illegals: No Papers Needed to Vote

California Dem. candidate tells her audience that "“you don’t need papers for voting.”........... Per Expose the Left:

BUSBY: Well sure, everybody can help. Yeah, absolutely. You can all help. Yeah, you don’t need papers for voting, you don’t need to be a registered voter to help.

Ian has video & audio of the call for illegal votes in the coming 50th district CA. election...........................................

No word yet whether she passed out wire cutters and maps with directions to particularly desolate sections of the border area...............

Post Dispatch Reporter Margaret Gillerman Arrested Covering Funeral

Apparently a St. Louis Post Dispatch journalist was arrested yesterday at the funeral of Tiffany Marie Souers, per GatewayPundit:

A St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter was arrested outside of the funeral of Ladue native and Clemson student Tiffany Marie Souers on Thursday. After a tussle, the reporter, Margaret Gillerman, 54, of University City, jacked the arresting officer........................

Police Chief Wurm, said Gillerman resisted arrest and hit a police officer and was arrested after they told her to leave because the church had banned the media............................Gillerman claimed she was handled roughly and that treatment left bruises........................

Gillerman ran her story yesterday on the funeral titled: Friends and family gather for Tiffany Souers' funeral..................no mention of the arrest which is the proper protocol obviously, the article is and should be about the funeral only.......................

The Post does have a separate article up on the arrest however, Reporter arrested outside Souers funeral:

Police arrested a Post-Dispatch reporter who was covering the funeral of Tiffany Marie Souers on Thursday. Margaret Gillerman, 54, of University City, was held briefly at the Ladue jail on municipal charges of third-degree assault, resisting arrest and trespassing, then released on $600 bond............................

Gillerman's statement per the Post article:

"I think the attention today should be on telling the world about the wonderful person who was being celebrated at the Mass today - not on this unpleasant pettiness," Gillerman said............................

The Post Editor Arnie Robbins:

Post-Dispatch Editor Arnie Robbins said: "Our hearts go out to the family. We cover funerals with the utmost respect and sensitivity. We also respect the laws while doing our jobs and expect law enforcement officials to do the same."......................

I'm not exactly sure what the part about "expecting law enforcement officials to do the same" means. Sounds to me that if Gillerman followed the police instruction, there would not have been such a distraction............................Sounds like Gillerman did not respect the laws if the police told her she had to leave and she then returned in direct violation..........................That said it does seem that the day should have been "all" about Tiffany Souers, not the arrest of a Post reporter..........someone here used some very poor judgment that turned the spot light off a serious event a bit, that should not have had such a distraction........

Family Nurses Daughter Back to Discover She's Not Their Daughter

File it under too tragic to even be a Hollywood screen play, a couple nursed their child back from life threatening injuries after an accident, find out that she is not their daughter. Per the STL Post/AP:

A couple sat by their daughter's hospital bedside for weeks after an auto accident until she came out of a coma. Soon, they realized that she was not their daughter but rather another young, blond woman injured in the wreck. Their own daughter, it turned out, was dead and buried. One family had been incorrectly told their daughter had died in the crash April 26 in Indiana; another was erroneously informed that their daughter was in a coma..................

Can you imagine the pain and absolute extreme emotion that both of these families have gone through the past few weeks.........................

The girls looked very similar and due to injuries and swelling of their faces, the missed identification occurred. Here is the university website Taylor University............

Laura Vanryn's family also created a blog that updated what they thought was their daughters recovery: Laura Vanryn Blogspot. Here is the post where they reveal that the child they were nursing back to health was in fact not their loved one:

Our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear Laura, but instead a fellow Taylor student of hers, Whitney Cerak. There was a misidentification made at the time of the accident and it is uncanny the resemblence that these two women share. Their body types are similar, their hair color and texture, their facial features, etc. Over the past couple of days, as Whitney had been becoming more aware of her surroundings, she'd been saying and doing some things that made us question whether or not she was Laura. Yesterday, we talked with a Spectrum staff member and began the process of making a positive ID. We now know without a doubt, that this is Whitney.............

The sister of Whitney posted this Carly Cerak on the blog:

I couldn't get this verse out of my head as we drove down to Grand Rapids. I did not believe my sister was in the hospital; I thought for sure this was a mistake. When I walked into the hospital room I was shocked and overcome with joy. Soon after we saw Whitney, our family met with the Van Ryns and our joy for ourselves was pushed aside by the pain we felt for them. It is hard because our joy is their pain. The Van Ryns have been amazing to Whitney and we are privileged that if under any care besides ours that she was under their great care. However, we know the pain they now feel all too well and our hearts break with them. There is a deep connection that has been made between our families and together we look to God as we walk through this.........

Man, what a tough deal for everyone, but especially the VanRyn's. Got to keep them in your prayers............................................

---------------------Update----------------------------------

New revelations on the unfortunate factors that lead to this tragic mistake that made a horrible situation, even worse, per the AP:

Authorities missed one opportunity after another to avoid - or at least correct sooner - the sad mix-up between a student killed in a van crash and a classmate who survived. Among other things, a sister of one of the victims asked to see the body but was talked out of it by a deputy coroner who said it would be too traumatic. A boyfriend and a college roommate also raised doubts about whether the women had been accurately identified, but the mistake went undiscovered for five weeks...............

Had a deputy coroner not talked the sister of Whitney Cerak out of identifying the body, per officials, "the entire disaster may have been avoided".................

Obviously the deputy coroner had good intentions but it appears that those good intentions probably fueled this tragic mix-up:

Grant County Coroner Ron Mowery said the woman was "extremely traumatized" and could not stand without help after learning of her sister's death at a hospital in Marion, northeast of Indianapolis. The deputy coroner's advice was "out of concern for how she would handle the shock" of seeing her sister's body, Mowery said..........................

Again, a tragic situation that was made worse by a terrible error in identification.................................

Soldier Sacrifices Over Haditha?

Haditha is getting all the headlines and I understand why. However, this story seems to me to have the potential to be much more damaging to the war efforts than Haditha from a troop perspective, via Fox:

A Marine captain who was relieved of command after members of his battalion were accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq, denied any role in the slayings and complained that he had become a "political casualty." It makes my blood boil to see my name lumped in with this massacre, when I was in a different city not playing any role in this incident," Capt. James Kimber told The Associated Press...............

Is Capt. James Kimber a "political casualty" as he claims?:

Kimber said he was removed because senior commanders at California's Camp Pendleton were scrambling to defuse an explosive situation.............

If this is true I have to imagine that it could have a very negative impact on the troops and morale. If this is a cover your ass move by the brass, someone better get their ear and change this around quick. Can you imagine how the soldiers on the ground would feel seeing an officer thrown on the pile by the brass just to try to make this story go away?

Kimber might be responsible for issues that merited him being relieved of his command, I have no idea. However, if that's not the case and he is warm body being sacrificed, watch out..............The Iraq campaign will survive Haditha. Americans won't condone it but they won't turn on the military for this one tragedy. The brass offering up soldier sacrifices that don't deserve such treatment if that is what's happening here with Kimber, could unravel the whole deal..................

Exploiting Haditha Before it Happened and After

Seems to me that Mark Davis gets it right in his column in the Dallas News on the Haditha:

Anyone with a shred of human decency approaches this with the utmost gravity. Those of us who support the troops and the war they are fighting have a special responsibility not to sugarcoat, minimize or marginalize any wrongdoing by those troops. But, conversely, those who are exercising their right to speak ill of the war and the Americans fighting it have a responsibility not to allow their anti-war venom to inflame their assessments of bad moments in the war's history. That track record is forever blemished by the absurd overreaction to Abu Ghraib, a prison scandal that was bad enough if treated objectively. The wheels of justice turned, and prices are being paid for humiliating detainees outside the protocols of interrogation...............

I'm hugely supportive of our military and the job they are doing in the GWOT. That said, if our forces killed innocent people, then it should be investigated and if anyone is guilty then they should be punished. I sympathize with how one could become fed up with the vicious attacks by insurgent and how seeing a member of your team get blown-up could boil over into a call for revenge. However, that can't happen nor should it. I don't know that I would have the restraint, but that is the standard that our troops are held to. Killing innocent people should not occur, regardless.........................

Davis goes on to undress Murtha as he jumps with glee over the latest news:

As President Bush calls on America to display the resolve and patience that have seen us through other wars, Mr. Murtha has led the pack of braying critics casting negative light on our fighting forces, their mission and their motivation. He has led the drumbeat for a retreat before the mission is over. He has questioned the readiness and resolve of our armed forces. And now he has a gift-wrapped tragedy ready for exploitation by any other shameless opportunists willing to join him....

Murtha started exploiting this tragedy almost before it happened...............Like Murtha those against the war and against the GWOT will jump out of their shoes to exploit this tragedy. It has nothing to do with the true reflection this has on the overall effort, it's all about fitting the agenda. Do you think that alliance forces killed innocent Germans during the battles of WWII? Of course it happened, and I'm not justifying it or defending it. My point is that we did not call for retreat then because of one unfortunate event. Nor should we call for and end in Iraq because of this unfortunate event..........................To do so is anti-war agenda and not an objective or sound agenda...........................