Open Thread Friday

From the TIB Network:

With last minute show preperations underway, there will be little to no blogging today.

Please use the comments section to discuss whatever is on your mind.

Tonight's show, "All Kerry, All the Time" will be live and direct on DATV starting at 7PM. This will be the last show done at the DATV studio as the TIB Network moves flagship operations to MVCC in June. Topics for tonight's show include John Kerry's Vietnam record and the aftermath; John Kerry's flip-flop record in the Senate; and John Kerry's RAW DEAL for America.

Regular reader Sean asked yesterday about webcasts... The TIB IT Department is working on it and we've been told that progress is being made, but that it will take a bit longer. (We're going to try to host it ourselves...)

- Matt

Day By Day

From the TIB Network:

As I cruise around the blogosphere today, I am seeing more and more evidence (in addition to today's cartoon) that perhaps Chris Muir has some really good news for us about syndication of Day By Day in the not so distant future.

Best of luck, Chris! We love your work...we're rooting for you.

- Matt

Around the Blogosphere

Jason of Generation Why? takes Sen. Hollings to task for his diatribe.

Tim Perry on Politics has an interesting story about Tim Russert and aides interrupting interviews. Oddly enough, Colin Powell wasn't involved in this one.

Michael King of Ramblings' Journal has the story of Sgt. Hasan Akbar. There is a Patton reference that I found particularly appropo.

Onebaseman is Disseminating the VRWC Propaganda by giving Ted Rall his due.

- Matt

2:30PM Update

Mahatma explains it all to a moonbat he calls "Hanging Chad" while taking the oath of the VRWC. Entertaining and thought-provoking as always!

Waffles and Gas

By Matt Hurley for the TIB Network

It seems that the presumptive nominee can't make up his mind. Again. This time, it is gas prices.

"We're seeing the economic opportunity of America's families disappearing into gas tanks across the country," Kerry said in a statement, adding, "and for some reason, the president is not lifting a finger to help."

- John Kerry (Washington Times, May 19, 2004)

But earlier this year, Mr. Kerry was angry that the President was working on the problem:

“If it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people,” Kerry said.

- John Kerry (The State, April 21, 2004)

So, which is it Mr. Kerry? You can't have it both ways. Either you want the President to make a deal or you don't, but you don't get to have it both ways. You're running for President of the United States, is it too much to ask that you take a position on this that will last longer than a couple of months?

While we're on the subject of high gas prices, isn't this exactly what the liberals wanted? Isn't this what John Kerry wanted? He supported a gas tax. In order to make America more "environmentally friendly," shouldn't high gas prices be what John Kerry wants as a liberal? Or is this another opportunity for John Kerry to grandstand in an attempt to appease the "little people," you know, schlubs like you and me. I find that much more likely.

What is John Kerry's solution? Well, he'd talk to OPEC some more while his buddies want to open up the Strategic Petrolium Reserves:

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and others favor pressuring the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which cut production in March and April, to boost its output to meet demand. Others want to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an idea Kerry has not endorsed. Kerry has said that new contributions to the reserve should be slowed to ease petroleum supplies.

- The Herald, May 20, 2004

Now remember, folks, the President tried to get his energy plan through Congress, but Kerry and his buddies weren't having it:

"On the one hand, they decry the price at the pump, and on the other hand, they won’t do anything about it. They won’t take action. Congress needs to pass the energy plan."

- President Bush, The Herald, May 20, 2004

To which John Kerry's campaign says:

"Once again, the president is making excuses instead of actually coming up with a plan to deal with the gas price crisis that is roiling the American economy," Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said.

- The Herald, May 20, 2004

The reality is this: we need refineries; we need alternative fuel sources; and we need a plan. The President has a plan, but obstructionists in Congress continue to get in the way.

I really don't understand the outrage. When compared to things like milk, bottled water and a slew of other products, $2.00 per gallon is a fantastic price. Consider: oil has to be drilled, sent down a pipeline to a ship, floated across the ocean, pipelined to a refinery, refined in to gasoline, pipelined to a distributer, and then trucked to the gas station. I'm amazed it doesn't cost more than $2.00 per gallon.

Now the argument against this line of reasoning is that there are alternatives for other products when the price gets too high. You can always drink tap water when milk gets too high in price. Your car doesn't have that choice. That is where alternative fuel sources come in to play. That is where tapping our own resources (ANWR anyone?) come in to play. We have things that we can do, but we can't let the eco-weenies get in the way of progress. I'm all for conservation. I love the environment as much as the next guy. But if the choice is between us and the porcupine caribou, I choose us every time.

Folks, don't be fooled by John Kerry's gas rhetoric. High gas prices are exactly what he wants. You'll stop buying SUVs and he'll be able to tax the gas companies more. It is a win/win for him. And if he can fool you in to thinking that he is really on your side, that's just a bonus for him. All this sound and fury is nothing more than the utilization of polling data and a politicain taking advantage of our frustrations. John Kerry will tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear. Remember Earth Day, John Kerry doesn't own any SUVs, his family owns them. This is more of the same. He calls it nuance. I call it lying to the American people.

Additional Resources

The Kerry Line: Kerry's Energy Policy Obstruction

Mark's Remarks

John Waffles Kerry does it again. Another waffle. He argued today that the President needs to open the Emergency Reserve to lower gas prices. Yet it was John Kerry just a few years ago who argued AGAINST opening up the reserves to lower gas prices because it would be insignificant. Folks, the 60-70 million barrel number Kerry and his people are throwing around is insignificant, especially since Americans use 1/3 of that IN A DAY! We would basically have extra oil for three days! How is that supposed to really lastingly lower the price?!? Even the New York Times chastised Mr. Kerry for this blatantly pathetic attempt at politicking! The head of the International Energy Agency is on Bush's side. The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board has said your grandstanding on the oil reserve issue is pathetic and wrong! OF course, you only talk to international heads of state if they are from France, Russia, or North Korea, right Johnny Boy?

President Bush is right. Look at HIS energy plan. It addresses the needs of oil refineries (one of the real problems with oil prices, we don't have enough to refine the oil efficiently, ie, inexpensively). It also addresses drilling in ANWR, which is necessary and IS NOT HARMFUL TO THOSE FRIGGIN CARIBOU. In fact, in other places where we have drilled in Alaska, the Caribou population has gone up after we begin drilling. It is a BLATANT LIE by the environmental whackos that drilling would destroy the caribou. Study after study has been done, and the results do not go the environmentalists way. So, they paint ANWR as some type of beautiful vista. Even the Native Innuits want drilling, because they want jobs and prosperity. Of course, who cares about their needs, they are a smaller voting bloc, right Mr. Kerry?

And, the President does address the needs for alternative sources. He has specific goals for wind farms and solar power. Of course, Kerry hates that you mention wind farms, unless you say you can't build them on Cape Cod because he has to have his spectacluar view, screw the environment, right Mr. Kerry? Oh wait, the environmentalists might be listening so tell them that you don't own SUVs.

The most pathetic and silly thing? Kerry himself argued against this. Now, I ask you, who is unprincipled? Who is, in effect, a MIS-leader? Ask his former commanders, they know.

More Resources

Kerry the Gas Guzzler- This Washington Times articles shows Bush is consistent on the Oil Reserve Policy, while Kerry, of Course, Waffles.

Mr. Kerry wants to divert the current SPR fill-rate of 105,000 barrels per day — about one-half of 1 percent of America's total daily oil consumption of 20 million barrels. That's hardly enough to make a dent in the gasoline market.
Coming from a family that owns five palatial, energy-consuming homes, its very own Gulfstream II jet, a 42-foot powerboat, eight vehicles (including two Jeeps and a Chevy Suburban) and a Harley, Mr. Kerry has no standing when it comes to dealing with energy problems or the current surge in gasoline prices. Nevertheless, Mr. Kerry wants middle- and working-class Americans to believe that he truly feels their pain.
After having spent the past three years leading the Democratic opposition to the Bush administration's efforts to expand domestic oil supplier, Mr. Kerry needs to keep his hands off America's long-term strategic insurance policy.

"Bush Rushing to Show Iraq Handover Strategy"

From al-Reuters via My Way News

An interim Iraqi president, prime minister and other top ministers should be selected in the next two weeks, President Bush said on Wednesday as he prepared to lay out for the American public his strategy for handing sovereignty to Iraqis.

Rushing to stem eroding support at home and abroad for his Iraq policies, Bush discussed with his Cabinet and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans for what he called a "full transfer of sovereignty" to an Iraqi interim government on June 30 backed by a new U.N. Security Council resolution.

Berlusconi came to Washington to press Bush to give Iraqis more say over their security forces and military facilities after the handover. While Berlusconi suggested there was a broad consensus, senior Bush administration officials said the interim government would have limited authority in some areas and Iraqi forces, while overseen by fellow Iraqis, would still fall under a U.S.-led command.

In a public address next week, Bush plans to lay out in more detail the course for the remaining month and a half before the scheduled transfer, administration officials said.

Matt's Chat

"Bush Rushing to Show Iraq Handover Strategy" is an interesting way to put it. I thought you leftists were the ones pushing for the details? Interesting how they clamor for something and then when they finally get what they asked for the story becomes how Bush "rushed" to give it to them. As I recall it, the Partisan Media^tm had been pressing for details on the handover for MONTHS, if not the better part of a year. This is hardly what I would call a "rush" to action; I'd call it a rather deliberate attempt to get it right. But that doesn't fit al-Reuters worldview; so that can't be the truth, can it?

Might it also have something to do with the fact that Brahimi (or Brandini as John "Waffles" Kerry calls him)is still doing his thing? You know, the UN guy you guys were screaming for...

Mark's Remarks

Well, it just goes to show that you cannot please liberals unless you are killing yourself if you are Republican. Mr. Bush explains his plans in detail, after they are worked out, and what does al-Reuters do? They call it rushing the strategy! No, terrorlovers, rushing the strategy would have been what you and your friends in Congress wanted, that is knowing and having an exit strategy BEFORE you knew the situation, like the day after the war began. That would have been rushing it. Turning tail and running like we did in Somalia, without taking out the bad guys or ensuring the safety of citizens (yeah, libs, you did that, rememeber?), that would have been rushing a strategy (or lack of one).

Nope, tell them your plans and you are rushing. Don't tell them your plans and you 'seem to be searching for a plan.' Man, with blatant and idiotic hypocrisy like this, it is no wonder more people are turning to alternative newssources, and leaving the Partisans and Terror Collaborators at the Big Media behind.

Giuliani Testifies

From My Way News:

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani passionately defended local firefighters and police on Wednesday after the rescue departments' response to Sept. 11 received sharp criticism from the commission investigating the attacks.

Giuliani's testimony was at times interrupted by emotional hecklers, including one who shouted, "My son was murdered." Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the suicide airplane attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

"Catastrophic emergencies and attacks have acts of great heroism attached to them. They have acts of ingenious creativity attached to them and they have mistakes that happen," Giuliani said. "When human beings are put under these conditions, that's what happens.

"Blame should be directed at one source and one source alone -- the terrorists who killed our loved ones."

Matt's Chat

I do not understand why these disruptions are allowed to continue. Again, this isn't the House of Commons in England, where this sort of thing is supposed to happen. This is supposed to be a serious investigation in to what happened on 9/11 and it surely isn't with the circus atmosphere in the gallery and politicking on the Commission itself.

To even attempt to place any blame on first responders is so absurd I'm actually speechless. I just don't understand why this show trial is being allowed to continue. It is a sham. And the American people deserve better.

Mark's Remarks

This commission disgusts me. It blames everyone but who did the deed, the terrorists!!!! Now they focus on the brave men and women first responders who died saving lives. Now they are casting aspersions on their memory, and hoping further to turn people against the President. It makes me sick. Where is the objectivity? Where is the honesty?

Oh, wait, I forgot. This was a liberal induced committee, therefore, there cannot be any of those, for this is all about gaining power. Who cares that there really are questions of what to do better that need answered? Who cares that there are really issues we need to look at to better defend our country, because, darnit, we Libs need to win power! Who cares that Americans are dying in the field and are growing demoralized because we politicize everything, we have got to win power for our social experimentation! Who cares that we are telling children their dead parents are TO BLAME for 9/11 and for people dying, rather than extending the message that mommy or daddy are heroes, because who cares, kids can't vote anyway, and the more we screw em up, the more they will need entitlements!

I am truly disgusted...this farce and joke of a commission must end. Who's with me?

WMDtv Update

From the TIB Network:

We just got the new production schedule...and we LOVE IT!

MVCC reruns will continue on 1st and 3rd Mondays at 10PM. The Sunday slots are gone, but we pick up the 2nd, 4th and 5th Saturdays at 3PM

The "LIVE AND DIRECT" show will be on the 1st and 3rd SATURDAYS at 3PM.

Negotiations continue with DATV for them to pick up the "LIVE AND DIRECT" show. Details as they come available. Reruns will continue on DATV but not on a regular schedule. Check your local listings.

- Matt

For English, Press '1'

From the Cybercast News Service:

Two politicians in Maryland are now in trouble for stating the obvious: People who work in customer service should speak English. And out-of-control multiculturalism is to blame for the failure to preserve America's common language.

The professional victims are up in arms as usual-demanding apologies, whining to the press and clamoring for government subsidies to nurse their hurt feelings. But for once, the truth-tellers refuse to back down. They are role models for the rest of the nation's spine-deprived public officials.

It all started a few weeks ago when former Gov. William Donald Schaefer walked into a McDonald's restaurant he had frequented regularly for years. Schaefer, a Democrat who now works as comptroller under Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, ordered the same thing every morning: hot tea and a biscuit.

After encountering difficulty with a newly hired worker with poor English skills, he quit going to the restaurant out of frustration. "I don't want to adjust to another language," he declared publicly. "This is the United States. I think they should adjust to us."

Matt's Chat

GRRRRRRRRRRRR! For you locals, you know this has hit on an exposed nerve. Those of you out there in the blogosphere have just discovered one of my biggest pet-peeves.

I have no problem with immigrants. We are, afterall, a nation of castoffs. Americans should be proud of that heritage. I draw the line at expecting to learn Spanish so I can get what I came for. And I really don't think it is appropriate for me to have to tell somebody (or some machine) that I speak English (or 'Merican as I like to call it).

This is a land of great opportunity. It doesn't take much to prosper in this country. All I ask is that immigrants at least attempt to learn the language. I wouldn't move to Germany and expect the entire nation speak English, why should Mexicans move here and expect us to speak Spanish? THEY CAME HERE. Not the other way around.

Learn it. Love it. Be it.

Mark's Remarks

While I can understand the need for diversity and remembering one's heritage, people need to learn to speak the language of doing business here in the United States. In other nations, such as nations in Africa, China, Japan; English is required to be learned....except in the United States itself. Here, we bend over backwards to create some weird experiment of Babel, where everyone is speaking different languages, and English is fading to the back. Why? Most of the world realizes that essentially, English is the official world language. Shouldn't those who LIVE in the United States use it themselves?

Even Ghana has made English its official language and required to be taught and used. Yet, in a most ridiculous show of political correctness, God forbid WE in the US should make anyone learn basically the official world language.....

They should adjust to us...Darn right....Look at history. Immigrants who came here learned the language and the culture, and they struggled, mightily. However, through that struggling, they valued what they had and they fought to grow and become valuable members of society. All I am seeing lately is a ridiculous sense of entitlement from immigrants: The US should adjust to me.' Give me a break. Why, because you came here illegally? Why, because you flout breaking our laws? Is that why we should adjust to you? Shows how virulent and ridiculous the liberal ideology is, doesn't it?

Kate Didn't Get the Memo

From small dead animals:

Over at the Shotgun, Laura is frightened.
"This is scary [poo]. The prison abuses are scary [poo]. All of the lies are scary [poo]."

Well, Laura, you found us out. I confess... there is a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy^tm and nobody noticed until now. I know this is true, because, well... I'm in it. And now that you've found us out, I've been given permission to tell you the rest.

Please, sit down. [Go read the whole thing...you will NOT be disappointed.]

Matt's Chat

I think Glenn Reynolds says it best when he says, "Heh."

Mark's Remarks

Nothing like a little reality check through humor....go check it out....

Note to the Locals

From the TIB Network:

I do not have my cell phone on me today. I just thought the whole world should know that. For some reason.

- Matt

What's Goin' On?

From Michael King's Ramblings' Journal:

A spent rocket launcher was found near the H.E. Holmes MARTA station on Atlanta's west side this afternoon.

Local police and the FBI said that since it was already spent, there was no threat to the public, but of course, they want to know (hell, I wanna know!) where it came from.

The big kick is that the location where they found the ordinance was less than a quarter mile from Interstate 20, just inside I-285. Also, the MARTA tracks are adjacent to a freight line, which is used by military transport trains among others.

I may be pulling the tin-foil on a bit tight here, but my wife and I travel that stretch of the freeway every day. As you can imagine, the pucker factor went up a notch.

Matt's Chat

anybody wanna venture a guess what this is about? And why we didn't hear about it on the news?

Note to Michael: I live in OHIO and I got a scare out of that...I can't imagine having to travel that route. Keep us posted, will ya?

The GWB Conspiracy Generator

From Buttafly:

Want to come up with your own conspiracy theory about Bush? Don't let Al Franken, Michael Moore, and MoveOn.org have all the fun! Use this handy George W. Bush Conspiracy Theory Generator to come up with your own conspiracy theory!* * This tool may not be used to create Democratic presidential candidate speeches or generate content for MoveOn.org without the express permission of Buttafly.com.

Matt's Chat

George W. Bush caused the Cubs to lose to the Marlins in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series so that gun owners, Republicans, and Rush Limbaugh could upset Al Franken.

Hat Tip

Perry on Politics - Tim finds the really good ones!

Media Bias and The Gloom^tm

From MSNBC - GlennReynolds.com:

News organizations are exquisitely sensitive to the implications of reporting only bad news where "victim" groups are concerned.

Which means that if they can do better when they want to, then on subjects where they don't do better, they must not want to. And why not? Beats me, but I'm sure it can't reflect well on them, and I'm not surprised that more and more Americans are tuning them out. What business has ever succeeded by making its customers feel bad?

Matt's Chat

Which is exactly why I view the "news" with suspicion these days. If these guys would take the bias out of their coverage, I'd be more likely to appreciate the reporting of something bad. The problem is that when the something bad is something bad for their agenda, it doesn't make the news. That would be a problem. And it has been the problem for quite some time now.

Mark's Remarks

Now, someone is getting it. They are understanding that the media has chosen to focus on the bad news from Iraq, even though the number of Good stories vast outnumbers it. Rather than reporting facts, they are distorting the picture to the lowest common denominator. And why? It is because they are becoming more and more the willing propaganda arm of leftism, and they are doing all they can to undermine pride and ownership of America, instead wanting to bring back the days of malaise and pain of Carter. How else can you explain the lack of coverage of unemployment numbers, the lack of coverage of all the aid given to Iraqi children, and all the news blackout from the Northern area of Iraq?

They know what they are doing. They are trying to manipulate elections for their friends. Folks, educate yourselves. Don't be like the lady I talked to in the teachers lounge the other day, who didn't know anything other than what she saw in soundbites on the news....she was able to recite some vague allusions to protests and conditions today and in Vietnam, but she was disjointed and when you confounded her arguments, she would just say, well, everyone does bad things or that politics is just bad.....and this woman was a teacher! Just goes to show you what is being taught in teacher programs, eh?

Anyway, we cannot let the media make our decisions for us...we have to seek out the truth....we owe it to ourselves, to our soldiers dying for us, and we owe it to our future.

Have You Forgotten?

From MSNBC
From the Boston Herald
From the Sun (LA Times)
From CBS

Matt's Chat

John Lehman and the 9/11 Commission have...have you forgotten?

Rudi Guiliani gets it. He hasn't forgotten. He said it best when he said, "Our enemy is not each other but the terrorists who attacked us." This isn't a time for blame. It really isn't. Americans didn't crash those planes into those towers. Terrorists did. Dispute that, leftists. I dare you. I challenge you. You can't? Shut the pie hole.

This Commission jumped the shark just after Condi Rice appeared. I think it was when John Ashcroft let the world know about Jamie Gorelick and the Commission decided to protect her. Now it is nothing more than political hackery and grandstanding. It is disgusting and despicable. Those who survived deserve better. Those who fought and died on 9/11 deserve better. America deserves better.

Mark's Remarks

Tragically, I think many Americans have forgotten. We are so concerned for ourselves and that we can live our lives decadently and uninterrupted that we have forgotten what we are fighting for. Folks, we were attacked. We were massacred, and all anyone wants to do is say, what did we do to deserve it?

Do you ask that when a woman is raped? Do you ask that when someone is murdered? Do we blame the victims? Well, that is precisely what is going on now with this commission and its aims. It is no longer and has never been about seeking initiatives to better prepare America. No, instead, it is like the defense attorney who wants to defame the victim in order to earn points. This is disgraceful.

I am ashamed of fellow citizens who will cry and moan about Iraqi prisoner abuses but who will not talk about the 3,000 who were tortured and died in 9/11. What about the torture the survivors have to go through each day?

I am ashamed of this commission and its blame gaming. If we would have known there was an attack, we would have tried to prevent it. No one, Republicans or Democrat (except maybe Ted Kennedy and Hillary) are that cold as to offer up 3,000 Americans for political gain. Yet, that is what this commission is trying to show, instead of trying to find what we have done right and what we still need to do. I am ashamed of them, and I am ashamed of people who give them credibility.

I am ashamed of protestors who only talk about our "unjust" invasion of two nations who sponsored terrorists, even though they will only pay lip service to the "unjust" destruction of human lives on that September day....Remember the outrage? Where is it now?

This War's John Kerry

From Dust in the Light:

No quote just go read the whole thing...and don't forget to take the duct tape...you'll need it.

Matt's Chat

Unbelievable. One wonders how long it will take for Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy and Nancy "Botox" Pelosi to call this guy before Congress to talk about Gengis Khan and stuff.

Is this man a traitor? I don't know. I do believe that he is a liar. And so does a lot of other people. Furthermore, he could provide tremendous PR for the enemy. Sound familiar?

Mark's Remarks

Yes, and just like John Kerry, this disgrace to the uniform will use whatever means, whether it be slandering the majority of troops who do their best to be both role models and citizen soldiers fighting for freedom, or to accepting false testimony. This person is a disgrace, and if he was so upset by it, then why do it? He is the sheep here, not our soldiers. He chose to believe that he was evil, just as J. Kerry did, and he went with it. IT makes it easier when the press just loves these stories and encourages them. Why do you think homecomings are only covered in local papers? Because the soldiers come home and say, 'we are doing good over there'. That is not a story. So, they go to people who are disgruntled because maybe they didn't get a medal, or maybe they found out that war is tough, or whatever. This disgraceful clown will probably go after a political career, using the John Kerry Map of Betraying your fellow Soldiers and Your Country plan.

UNSCAM Update

Two stories for you today. This one from the New York Post:

It looks like the investigation into the U.N. Oil for Food program — one of the biggest corruption scams in his tory — is being hindered by Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority.
...
But chief adminstrator Bremer has now hired another accounting firm, Ernst & Young, to conduct an investigation, and is refusing to release funds needed to pay KPMG's fees.

This means that Ernst & Young will be duplicating work begun three months ago by KPMG, which is not only equally reputable but has already made progress in locating critical documents in Iraq.

Members of the governing council suspect that Bremer's motive is to protect the U.N. from adverse publicity in the run-up to the June 30 "handover of sovereignty."

Of course, it's no secret that powerful elements in the State Department have actively opposed efforts to investigate the U.N. Oil for Food scandal.

And this one from UNSCAM super reporter Claudia Rosett of the Wall Street Journal:

In the scandal over the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, Kofi Annan's main line of defense has been that he didn't know. Perhaps he should take a closer look at internal U.N. Oil-for-Food audit reports, more than 50 in all, produced by his own Office of Internal Oversight Services--the same reports he's declined to share with the Security Council, or release to Congress.

One of these reports has now leaked. It concerns the U.N. Secretariat's mishandling of the hiring of inspectors to authenticate the contents of relief shipments into sanctions-bound Iraq.

Reflecting the findings of a U.N. internal audit conducted during the sixth year of the seven-year Oil-for-Food program, the report focuses on one contractor hired directly by the U.N. Secretariat: Swiss-based Cotecna Inspection SA. This is the same company that, while bidding against several rivals for its initial Oil-for-Food contract in 1998, had Mr. Annan's son, Kojo, on its payroll as a consultant. Both Mr. Annan and Cotecna's CEO, Robert Massey, have insisted that the contract was strictly in accordance with U.N. rules.

Although this report doesn't mention Kojo, it does go on for 20 pages about inadequacies and violations in the U.N.'s handling of the Cotecna contract. The report explains that "the Contract had been amended prior to its commencement, which was inappropriate" and recounts that within four days of Cotecna signing its initial lowball contract for $4.87 million, both Oil-for-Food and the U.N. Procurement Division had authorized "additional costs" totaling $356,000 worth of equipment.

Matt's Chat

I'm not surprised Bremer would be dragging his feet at this point, there is an awful lot of pressure to get the UN into Iraq (for some reason - personally, I think the UN was criminally negligent in their handling of Iraq previously and their track record in this sort of operation isn't very good either) and we all know that the State Department lifers love the United Nations.

Was Kofi's son key to his company getting the contract? Did Kofi and/or his son profit from the deal? Why does Kofi get to decide what we get to see? Shouldn't Kofi recuse himself from such decisions due to the appearance of impropriety? Is Kofi himself guilty of something? The questions keep mounting and the left keep pushing for an important role for the UN in everything that we do.

Another UN Embarrassment

From the BBC (UK):

The United Nations is investigating claims of sexual harassment made by a member of staff against Ruud Lubbers, the High Commissioner for Refugees.
In a statement, Mr Lubbers said the accusation had been made in April, and related to a meeting that took place in his office in December last year.

The New York Times said the claim had been made by an American woman who had worked for the UNHCR for many years.

Matt's Chat

Now I realize this guy is UN, but just imagine what you'd hear on the news if this guy was a Republican. Did ANYBODY hear about this on the news? ANYBODY???

(insert cricket noises)

That's what I thought. Media is asleep at the wheel. Again. Still. Whatever...

Mark's Remarks

Matt, the left cannot report on an imperfection of their model for world relations, especially on a cause the left has campaigned against forever...that would make them out to be accepting hypocrites.....But wait, isn't that what they are anyway?

Google Job Opportunity

From Google via the Google Blog

Google Copernicus Center is hiring

Google is interviewing candidates for engineering positions at our lunar hosting and research center, opening late in the spring of 2007. This unique opportunity is available only to highly-qualified individuals who are willing to relocate for an extended period of time, are in top physical condition and are capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen.

The Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.) is a fully integrated research, development and technology facility at which Google will be conducting experiments in entropized information filtering, high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo) and de-oxygenated cubicle dwelling. This center will provide a unique platform from which Google will leapfrog current terrestrial-based technologies and bring information access to new heights of utility.

Matt's Chat

As Glenn Reynolds would say, "Heh."

CONFIRMED: WMD in Iraq

From FOX News:

Tests on an artillery shell that blew up in Iraq on Saturday confirm that it did contain an estimated three or four liters of the deadly nerve agent sarin (search), Defense Department officials told Fox News Tuesday.

The artillery shell was being used as an improvised roadside bomb, the U.S. military said Monday. The 155-mm shell exploded before it could be rendered inoperable, and two U.S. soldiers were treated for minor exposure to the nerve agent.

Matt's Chat

I don't want to hear any more crap from leftys about WMD in Iraq. I know, the goalpost will move now...where are the stockpiles of WMD? Or some other such nonsense. (Liberal Challenge: Who, and cite your source - and it can't be one of those crazy liberal black helicopter sites - said there were stockpiles of WMD in Iraq?)

Mark's Remarks

With liberals, it is never enough. They merely think of themselves as the good but persecuted victims, even as facts pile up against them. They cannot be wrong, but it must be the world that is wrong. It is never about growth, but rather about protecting their veneer of perfection, even as every system or program they have supported has led to disaster, whether it be the quagmire of the War on Poverty, to the demolition and gutting of our intel community, to the appeasement and detente with the USSR of the 1970s.....It is never they were wrong, but rather that things did not work out as they should have, that if we would only give them MORE power, they could make it work. Stalin thought so, also....yet 20 million were killed to give him more power and he still did not think it enough....

Just some food for thought.

Crush Kerry in Ohio

From the TIB Network:

Got an email from our good friend Patrick Hynes of CrushKerry.com reminding me (and thus you) that CrushKerry.com has some fantastic movie "shorts" (we'll be debuting some on the show on Friday) and that they are in the process of securing radio spots in battleground states. Patrick would like to ask all of you where they should spend their advertising money...Ohio is currently leading the poll, but go vote for Ohio anyway.

- Matt

N. Korean Rail Explosion Foiled Syrian Missile Deal

From the World Tribune:

A North Korean missile shipment to Syria was halted when a train collision in that Asian country destroyed the missile cargo and killed about a dozen Syrian technicians.

U.S. officials confirmed a report in a Japanese daily newspaper that a train explosion on April 22 killed about a dozen Syrian technicians near the Ryongchon province in North Korea. The officials said the technicians were accompanying a train car full of missile components and other equipment from a facility near the Chinese border to a North Korea port.

A U.S. official said North Korean train cargo was also believed to have contained tools for the production of ballistic missiles. North Korea has sold Syria the extended-range Scud C and Scud D missiles, according to reports by Middle East Newsline.

Matt's Chat

Hmm...let's see if we can put all this together... Jordan foiled an al Qaeda attack that would have used weapons coming from Syria. The weapons that Iraq had are more than likely in Syria. And Syria is trying to buy missiles from North Korea. And just what would they arm these missiles with? Iraq's WMD perhaps? I'm just asking...

Mark's Remarks

So, using the Palm Tree method, then we are doing the right thing by going after these animals before hate America nations like North Korea can funnel them some nukes.

More and more, it looks like Syria is the next bad apple in this developiing situation. One would think the Jordanians would jump on board, as would other nations, because we now have proof of an effort by Syria to get weapons that would throw out of whack the balance of power in the area, and we have further proof that North Korea is led by a megalomaniacal dictator with aspersions of godhood, who wants to take up the reins of the old Soviet pipeline of weapons to America's enemy. Now do you see why we fight? The more we get people on our side, the more we take out these terrorists, the less surrogates cowards like North Korea have. The more we get open to democracy, the more insignificant dictators like Kim Jong Ill become, because the people will see...We have to make democracy work in Iraq, and we have to plant the seeds around the world....otherwise, the Kim Jong Il's will just keep piping the weapons, and one day we will have a terrible disaster that will make 9/11 or even Hiroshima seem like nothing.

4 Arrested for Berg Death

From Yahoo News:

Four people have been arrested over the beheading of US businessman Nicholas Berg, whose killing was shown earlier this month in a video on an Al-Qaeda linked website, a senior Iraqi source said.

Asked if more than one person had been arrested in connection with the killing, the source told AFP: "Yes, four people."

Berg's beheading was shown on a grainy video posted on the Islamic website linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network, days after his body was found in Baghdad on May 8.

"We have made good progress," the source added, referring to the investigation, but declined to give any details on the identity of the four people held in detention.

But it was understood that none of the four included Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who US authorities believe carried out the killing of the 26-year-old who was in Iraq (news - web sites) to drum up business for his small telecommunications company.

The tape of Berg's killing was entitled "Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi slaughtering an American", referring to the Jordanian militant, linked to Al-Qaeda and wanted over a string of attacks in Iraq.

Matt's Chat

Zarqawi MUST meet justice for this. It is a moral imperative that must be filled. As quickly as possible for the sake of our fellow citizens and the good people in/of Iraq. Diligent resolve must be employed in finishing up this business.

Mark's Remarks

Here is the difference of why America will ALWAYS be better than the way of these animals....Where was Mr. Berg's trial? Where was the evidence? What did he do? These pitiable and scumsucking maggots who masquerade as human beings will be given fair trials, they will have rights that will be protected, and some people say we are not setting and example or living up to our ideals? Come on. These animals will be treated with more respect than they gave Berg or the corpses their compatriots dismembered for sport. We are showing the way, showing what true justice is. Now, when they are found guilty, they need to meet the harshest punishment possible.

Zarqawi, that man is pure evil. He must meet the most horrible end possible. It pains me to say this as a Christian, but death is too good for this guy....He must be dealt with, he must be destroyed and all those like him.

Red Sox Rookies as Hooter's Girls

From Ben Maller.com

Red Sox rookie Kevin Youkilis found himself clad afterward in a skimpy Hooters ensemble as he joined Lenny DiNardo as victims of the team's annual rookie hazing. Sox veterans typically wait until the end of the season to dress the rookies in drag, but they apparently were enticed by the prospect of watching Youkilis and DiNardo pass through customs in Toronto as Hooters girls.

Matt's Chat

When will Boston manager, Terry Francona, be charged with torturing these poor guys. And what did Head Trainer, Jim Rowe, know; if anything?

French: Sikhs Can't Wear Turbans

From Yahoo News:

Sikh school boys must exchange their turbans for hair nets when a new law banning religious apparel in public schools takes effect in September, France's education minister said Monday, shocking representatives of the Sikh community.



Education Minister Francois Fillon spoke after education officials adopted — with some misgivings — a set of guidelines to help school officials apply the law, which was enacted in March after a marathon parliament debate.

The law forbids conspicuous religious symbols and attire in the classroom, such as the Jewish skull cap and large Christian crosses, but it is chiefly aimed at the Muslim head scarf.

Matt's Chat

It appears France is willing to offend everybody just about equally...that must be good enough for liberals everywhere.

Mark's Remarks

You see, we hold up these socialist countries as so egalitarian and beyond us, but they deny basic religious rights to anyone they don't care for. Of course, John Kerry and Hamsters everywhere want to subject us to the will of people like this via the UN, but I say, no way! We stand for freedom and tolerance, note tolerance not appeasement or stamps of approval via jurisprudence. This should further show this jihad by terrorists is not about religion, but about base power and influence. IN order to keep their followers, they have to paint us as villains, even as we are the most free and understanding nation in the world, and this story just further proves that.

Blog Reader Survey

From the TIB Network:

Please take this survey about the reading habits of Bloggerus readeristicus (that's you!)

- Matt

The Gloom^tm

From Lilek's The Bleat:

This smothering gloom, this suppurating corrosion – this isn’t us. This isn’t who we are. If it is, well, we’re lost, because it contains such potent self-hatred that we’ll shrink from defending ourselves, because what we have built isn’t worth defending. Thanks for the push, al Qaeda! We’ll take it from here.

But it’s not us. It’s some, but they don’t set the national temperament. They can set the mood, but not the character. Yet. This war is ours to lose if we want to.

You want to lose it? Me neither.

Matt's Chat

This bit came after Lileks addressed a few issues from Antonia's drivel. Lilek's question is one worthy of an answer: Which America are we? The one that wallows in the gloom of bad news or the America that is proud of herself and is ready, willing, and able to do what is right and neccessary. While leftist hamsters hope for the former and spin that very message, there is a growing number of those who stand for the latter.

You can count me among those who believe America is the greatest nation in the history of the world. Are we perfect? No. But we have a will to strive for higher ideals and pursue them with vigor and determination unparalleled in civilization. We are a strong nation with much to take pride in...

Mark's Remarks

America has reached a crossroads. Are we going to wallow in the small instances of uncertainty and discomfort, or are we going to do what we have always done: push forward with the eternal optimism and hope for betterment that has been handed down to us from the Founders, men who placed everything on the line for freedom, men who were hunted like dogs because they pledged to stand together rather than hang separately. And thought they came from different backgrounds and ideological foundations, they realized America was worth fighting for. Freedom is not free, it is earned, and we are helping the Iraqis earn theirs as we earned ours 228 years ago. We cannot fail in this fight, for if we do, then we are saying that the sun which Ben Franklin saw as just beginning to rise on our nation so many years ago, has now set, and the darkness will begin. That is not America. America is still just dawning into the great morning. We must not allow those who would seek to sap our will for political gain, merely to have a higher office, to win the day. They don't care about the fact they are sapping the wills of our fighting forces, of their families, and of the nation. They only want to win some office. However, I must ask the question: is a weak and pathetic America the one they want to have? What kind of America will we have if the appeasers win? If we think that all battles should be easy, what will happen when America must compete in other endeavors like trade and the like? Will we take our ball and go home because we weren't handed a win? Or will we do like our grandparents and forebears did and say, to hell with this, we have to stand and deliver! We have to fight for the right, without question or pause....we have to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. (thanks Mrs. Ekstedt, mi jefa) If we decide that America's best days are behind her and routing these murderers is not worth it, then quite simply we need to buy berkas for our women, start reading the koran, grow beards, and get ready for the changeover. Well, folks, NOT ON MY WATCH! I am sick and tired of the befuddlement of the left, of the ineptitude of patriotism and lack of respect for hard work I see. No more! We have to get back to those values, because it was those, not the idea of appeasement and entitlement I see shovelled to our youth today, that built America and maintains her. We must stand up and be counted, and say, no more running, no more hiding..We are America, we are the greatest bastion of freedom, the only true land of opportunity, and no one is going to take it away....

Iraqi Torture Victims Seek Compensation

From SMH.com.au via Perry on Politics:

Iraqis tortured in US captivity in Iraq plan to file a class-action suit in US courts seeking compensation from private military contractors providing security services, a German lawyer said.

Matt's Chat

As Tim Perry asks, so do I: does this mean that Nick Berg's family has a crack at al Qaeda's cash? How about the Pearl family? 9/11 families?

Mark's Remarks

Yes, where is the money from Saudi Arabia, which has been a bastion for the Wahabists who sponsor terrorism? Where is the money from Bill Clinton's book deal for not doing enough to stave off 9/11? Where is the money from the John Kerry's and Ted Kennedys who decided to gut our intel services and who decided our military was a trifle we did not need? Where are the apologies from these failures, eh? Where are the apologies and money from the media, who are only too willing to show pictures of "tortured" prisoners, like it is even remotely something when put into context of the pain faced by 9/11 victims? Where is the money from Rall and others who cast aspersions on fallen soldiers and torture their families?