FLATLANDER

Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poo Award

2005-06-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Terrorist sympathizer from Illinois, Dick Durbin.

For your efforts to embolden the enemies of the United States of America...
You are the latest recipent of the coveted Flat-Lander Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poo Award.

LORD HAW HAW

2005-06-20T15:00:00.000-07:00



I come out of "blogtirement" to crown The NEW Lord Haw Haw.

Ed Schultz.

A like minded soul....

2004-12-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

Beautiful work. Worthy of your time and energy.

http://daytonvkennedy.blogspot.com/

All the people who think like me, please take one step forward.

The rest of you can go home.

DNC test fires all-new Weapons of Crass Obstruction

2004-12-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

From UPI...
Dems to continue oversight effort
Washington, DC, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Democrats Monday signaled they would continue to try and unofficially oversee the Bush administration.
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced several oversight hearings on a range of subjects next hear.
The minority party in Congress argued the Republican leadership has skirted its responsibility for administration oversight as defined in the Constitution.

And so the obstruction begins anew...
C'mon Senator Dorgan, don' t you have a state to represent with some serious problems that need to be addressed?

Of all the people in Washington to align yourself with, Harry Reid?!

Let's get Hemp legalized on the federal level and give ND farmers a paying crop to grow. Let's give the families of those farmers a way to make a living by building processing plants for that crop right here in ND. Hemp Paper, Fiberboard and Cloth could all be produced in ND giving residents jobs and ND cities futures.
Try focusing your energy on something productive for the state. Ask your friend Tom what happens when you put Washington politics over the interests of those who elected you.

We're watching you...

BTW: I'm back

Patriot tackles FairTax

2004-12-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

The time for the FairTax -- a federal retail sales tax -- is now! And we need your voice! Thank you for your support.

Date of Interview: Saturday, 12/04/04
Time of Interview: 9:15am – 10:00 am CST
Radio Station: WWTC-AM 1280 "The Patriot"
Host Name: David Strom, president, Minnesota Taxpayers League

Bill Phelps, Spokesperson for Americans for Fair Taxation will be discussing distinguishing characteristics of the FairTax Bill (H.R.25/ S.1493) that make it superior to all other tax reform plans.

Spread the word to friends, neighbors, . . . and even relatives.

Go forth and blog...

Get the scoop

2004-12-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

Find out what the media has been saying about the top proposal to replace the god-awful tax code we currently have in this country.

http://www.fairtaxvolunteer.org/news/index.html

Just like the Hokey Pokey...

2004-11-29T12:44:00.000-08:00

...that's what it's all about.

My good friend of many years wrote this article that pretty much sums up the proverbial question, "why are we here?".

You can read it here.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/article.php?sid=5225

The wisdom of Ben

2004-11-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766

We have much to be thankfull for...

2004-11-24T20:42:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving, uploaded by flatlander1.

Think about it, look around you. Are you thankfull for all God has given you today?

I am.

A special thanks to those who are serving their country, stateside or in hostile territory.

THANK YOU!

Thanks for stopping by, see you Monday. Now, get off your computer and go appreciate that for which you are thankfull. :-)

Friends of Iraq Challenge

2004-11-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

Support freedom, democracy and peace in IraqLeading bloggers are competing to raise funds to benefit the people of Iraq. 100% of all donations go to needs selected by these bloggers. Many of our projects support requests made by Americans serving in Iraq (Marines, Army, SeaBees) for goods that help the Iraqi people. Other projects directly support Iraqis who are on the front lines of building a better future for Iraq.

Want to participate?Join the challenge as an individual blogger or as a team.

Current ResultsSo far, the Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge has raised $20640.00. Click the donate link to donate via the blogger or team of your choice.

Join theTeam !
Northern Alliance of Blogs

Dragonfly for the weekend

2004-11-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

A sample of perfect organic architecture.
See you Monday.

Keep your secrets, please.

2004-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

Please, please keep it to yourself.

links to people who think like me

2004-11-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

http://promn.blogspot.com/

http://www.danielcasey.com/blog.htm

http://www.lileks.com/bleats/index.html

http://www.fraterslibertas.com/

http://www.powerlineblog.com/

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/

http://www.jihadwatch.org/

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/default.asp

http://daschlevthune.typepad.com/daschle_v_thune/

Some of these folks feed me a lot of traffic. Thanks for reading my blather.

CANADA BUSY SENDING BACK BUSH-DODGERS

2004-11-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

By Joe Blundo

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration.

The re-election of President Bush is prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they’ll soon be required to hunt, pray and agree with Bill O’Reilly.

Canadian border farmers say it’s not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota.

The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. "He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn’t have any, he left. Didn’t even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields.

"Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn’t give milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they’re sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR.

In the days since the election, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers.

"If they can’t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating and organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.

"I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can’t support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?"

In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals, a source close to Cheney said.

"We’re going to have some Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might put some endangered species on postage stamps. The president is determined to reach out."

BIZARO FLATLANDER

2004-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Bizaroworld?

There's another FLATLANDER and we ain't got the same views...
http://hestia.typepad.com/flatlander/

Wile E

2004-11-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

Finally, now that the election is over, we are able to discuss the deeper subjects that make our world a little better.

From Lileks:

Who is the Road Runner, anyway? An idiot bird blessed with speed, he personifies not ingenuity but luck. You can’t tell me that he somehow figured out how to avoid triggering the Coyote’s various traps. If anything, he didn’t set them off because he was light and / or fast, and I concede that the Coyote should have taken those things into consideration. But. But. We’re talking about a dog here, a canine capable of constructing explosive devices one day, pantomiming elaborate deceptions the next, to say nothing of operating – however inexpertly – complex machinery. If he’d been up against something stupid and slow, he would have been fat and happy.

Okay, well, something stupid and slow not watched over by a sheepdog.

I have always been of the mind that Wile E Coyote cartoons were good 15 minute physics lessons. Educational, if you will.
Everyone has had that moment in life when they realize they have just experienced "Wile E Coyote Physics". You should have fallen down the stairs, but for some reason the stairs themselves fell, leaving you hanging in midair, etc.

I bet you could even find at least one large institution of higher learning with a class titled "Wile E Coyote Physics 101".

Make them required veiwing at the 4th grade level!

Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poop Award

2004-11-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

(if you want to play the game, click here)

The most current recipient of the FLATLANDER Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poop Award:

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa for his remarks regarding the Senate prioritizing sweeping tax reform, including the FairTax.

Tax-law rewrite has key skeptic
By Peronet Despeignes, USA TODAY

The Senate's top tax-writer expressed doubts Tuesday about prospects for a major overhaul of the tax code, dealing a blow to one of President Bush's top priorities two weeks after his re-election.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said comprehensive tax reform would be "difficult" to do. "I'm not one to spend a lot of time tilting at windmills," he said.

Grassley said Bush would have to aggressively use his "bully pulpit" to win wider popular support. After the election, Bush said he had earned "political capital, and now I intend to spend it" by pushing for changes in the tax code and Social Security, among other things. But Grassley said, "I'm not sure how much political capital (the president) is prepared to spend on it."

Grassley's view is important because all tax bills go through his committee. In an interview with USA TODAY, he said Bush made a mistake by not talking about tax reform more often and more explicitly in the campaign. "I think there was a missed opportunity," he said.

White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said Bush "talked daily during the campaign about the importance of making the tax code simpler, fairer and more conducive to economic growth, and he looks forward to working with Congress on this priority."

Bush has called for simplifying the tax code in a "neutral" way that would not significantly raise or reduce tax revenue. That could make changes tougher, because any big tax cuts for some would have to be paid for with increases for others, creating winners and losers.

The White House is assembling a bipartisan panel that's expected to make recommendations before Bush settles on a specific proposal next year. Among his options is the replacement of the progressive income tax with a single, "flat" income tax rate or retail sales tax.

Grassley suggested that he favors more incremental changes: making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, closing loopholes, shielding middle-income Americans from tax increases, and reducing the tax burden on savings and investment.

The last time Congress overhauled the tax code was in 1986 under President Reagan. That law broadened the tax base by slashing loopholes. It collapsed 15 income tax brackets, topped by a 50% rate, into two rates of 15% and 28%. Since then, new tax breaks have been added and the number of brackets raised to six, topped by a 35% rate.

2004-11-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Come over and take it out of his mouth if you don't like it. Come on. Make sure he doesn't have any "devil music" on his iPod while yer there.

When it's not good to be #1

2004-11-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

Falling dollar bad for Eurozone

By Adam Porter in Perpignan, France

Saturday 13 November 2004, 12:15 Makka Time, 9:15 GMT

As oil prices fall to seven week lows, another economic problem is now the focus of analysts and the media: The falling dollar.

Commentators are convinced that the dollar could slip past its recent record lows against the Euro. With 1 euro buying $1.29, analysts have predicted that, even after a post-election rally, the dollar could slip to $1.35 to the euro or even less.

However, there are signs that rather than damage the American economy, as is predicted, it could be other currencies who feel the heat.

The Eurozone is especially vulnerable. This week it announced overall third quarter growth at just 0.3% - the slowest for a year.

Poor results

Germany, France and Italy all announced extremely disappointing third quarter economic results.

France's recent surge in demand slumped to near zero, recording just 0.1% of growth. Germany, traditionally the European powerhouse economy and manufacturing base also recorded just a 0.1% growth figure.

High oil prices did affect the German economy, as others, but what has hurt most is a big drop-off in exports.

Germany still has a large manufacturing base, and the relative strength of the euro means its exports are effectively more expensive.

At the same time, demand within the Eurozone has also failed to stimulate German industry.

As Joachim Fels and Annemarieke Christian of Morgan Stanley pointed out, "while German domestic demand has grown at a meagre rate of 0.3% since the start of EMU in 1999, real exports of goods and services have increased by 49% over the same time span, taking the share of exports in GDP up from 29% in late 1998 to no less than 40% in 2Q 2004".

"Net exports now amount to 6% of GDP. The German economy depends more heavily on foreign trade (both exports and imports) than it ever has in its history," they said.

Weak dollar benefits

So, a strong Euro is limiting exports. This does not just put the Euro in competition with the falling dollar but also, in a competitive devaluation climate, it is in competition with other similar currencies, notably the yen.

Roger Nightingale of Saracin Chiswell in London explained to Aljazeera: "The Euro needs lower interest rates to get the currency down. The Eurozone needs to strike out on a different policy. They could do it, at their last meeting I thought [European Central Bank chairman Claude] Trichet might do it. But he didn't."

So instead of the Euro being in a tussle with a falling dollar, the Euro is pitched against a more buoyant Japanese currency.

Germany 0 Japan 1

"There are two big competitors here. Germany and Japan. Basically there are not enough people buying the things they both make to satisfy the both of them. They both need to take business off each other.

"Japan was helped by selling capital goods, machinery and so on, to China in the past few years. China expanded rapidly and the relative low price of the yen benefited Japan," he said.

Rather than high oil prices hurting dollar finance, Nightingale asserted that it was the other currencies that would feel the brunt.

"All the money that is being made by the [oil] producer countries, where does it go? Most of it is recycled back into dollars in the form of US government bonds and treasuries. This props up the US. Oil consuming countries will be, are [already] being hurt by a rise in oil price. But as a consumer country the US has protection as 90 to 95% of that money goes back into the US economy," he told Aljazeera.net.

Maybe this is what Dick Cheney meant when he said "what is wrong with high oil prices?"

"As well the US are not producing the same things as the Germans and Japanese," continued Nightingale. "With Germany being the industrial base of the Eurozone they have to compete globally with similar economies, the Japanese and also you could include Korea."

Radical measures needed

The only way out for the Euro, said Nightingale, was to take some radical measures.

"If Europe does not get its economy into shape then one of two things will occur: Either we will have a revolution in Europe or Trichet will cut interest rates to zero as they did in 1996 in Japan.

"At the last meeting I though he was going to burst into tears. This has to be a prelude for the Eurozone to get the economy moving in a different direction."

Nightingale's ideas may well have some traction.

As France and Germany announced stumbling economic data Lynn Reaser of Bank of America Capital Management predicted American job growth of "around 200,000 a month" for 2005.

Then the American General Aviation Manufacturers Association came out with figures saying that the purchase of corporate jets in the USA had surged in 2004.

If financial Europe has its eyes on some of the same flyaway profits and executive perks they may need to take some unpopular fiscal measures to help the euro.

Whether they will do that, or whether new twists in the current economic turmoil are ahead, remains to be seen.

2004-11-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

Legos for the Lord...

Just in time for Christmas.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

Hug a Veteran

2004-11-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

We'll try, we'll try. Thanks Guys.

Fix it with The FairTax

2004-11-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

Just as Congressmen Linder and Peterson said... our Tax System's Broken. We Need To Fix It! That's precisely what the FairTax plan will do. We believe that it is absolutely the BEST way to bring about meaningful, r-e-a-l tax reform.
We believe, too, that after you've given the FairTax plan careful study, you will also come to see that it's the BEST way to fix our broken tax system.
The National Retail Sales Tax: FAIRNESS & FREEDOM for all!
OK, let's review: The FairTax Will:
• Repeal the federal income tax.
• Repeal all payroll taxes including taxes on Social Security and Medicare.
• Protect and ensure the funding of Social Security and Medicare.
• Repeal corporate and self-employment taxes.
• Repeal all estate, gift, and capital gains taxes.
• Taxation of income will be unconstitutional upon repeal of the 16th amendment.
• Allow you to keep 100% of your paycheck, pension, and social security payment. View your Paycheck! under the FairTax plan.
• Bring about a reduction of the cost of new goods and services by 20% to 30%.
• Raise the same amount of money for the federal government, i.e. "revenue neutral."
• Eliminate the Internal Revenue Service. - No more taxpayer time wasted on filling out cumbersome IRS forms. - No more IRS audits of individual taxpayers, no more IRS intimidation, no more levies, liens or home seizures by the IRS.
• Substantially reduce tax rates for lower and middle-income Americans. - Income Tax vs FairTax: MONEY AHEAD!
• Allow families to save more for Home Ownership, Education and Retirement.
• Provide a universal rebate equal to the sales tax paid on essential goods and services to ensure that no American pays taxes on necessities. Important! The Rebate is based only on family size (not on Income).
All Americans will receive the Rebate, in advance, monthly! Click REBATE! to see the Chart for 2003. All Seniors, including those on Social Security, will be pleased to note that they will receive the Rebate, too.
• Apply a 23% tax-inclusive rate sales tax on the purchase of New Goods and services in the U.S. Note: Used Goods and Education costs (ex: College Tuition) are not subject to the FairTax.
• Make American products more competitive at home and overseas. Encourage job-creation in America. Help reduce America's Trade Deficit.
• Stimulate economic growth in the U.S. by a far greater amount than the government's "tax-cuts" and "stimulus package" will ever do... and enable the economy to continue to grow year-after-year.

See Minnesotans for the Fair Tax for more information.

2004-11-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

For all those serving.

2004-11-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

of unknown origin

Let's find some nice parting gifts for them, shall we?

2004-11-06T04:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.reuters.co.uk/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=616225

Whatz up in Iraq? Get connected.

2004-11-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

Al Sabah
Baghdad.com
Iraq Net
Iraq Press Online
Kurdistan Observer

ATTENTION DEMOCRATS

2004-11-05T12:37:00.012-08:00

Bewildered?
Unsure which way the wind blows?
Wondering how to re-invent yourself now that you have had your pants beat off?

Check with this guy. He knows how to garner the votes of ignorant Bible Thumpin' Republicans in the Red counties of Minnesota.

Model your pathetic party of extremist freaks and communist ideals after guys like this and you might start winning again in the Midwest.

But, I shall say no more, I've already given too much help.

OOH! OOH! I CAN HELP!!

2004-11-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm ready! If Dorgan decides to fill Daschles shoes, I'll be ready for him.
I'm also watching Senator Dayton like a hawk.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/opinion/10093894.htm

SHOCKER! Communist utopia really a cesspool

2004-11-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Deserters from the Korean war have found North Korea to be more of a cesspool than a communist utopia.
I'm shocked.

2004-11-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

Must be something in the water... Looks like the division in America comes down to Large coastal city vs. land-locked rural areas... again.

A Tribute to Arafat

2004-11-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

From the Paul Revere Society:

photo collage by FLATLANDER

Arafats Trail Of Blood

The world media portrays Yasser Arafat as a kindly George Washington of the Palestinian people. The real Arafat is a blood-thirsty Ghoul. He Pioneered airline high- jacking's, and he was the god father of terror. Whole villages of Christians were massacred under his command in Lebanon. His P.L.O. conducted many cowardly campaigns of murder. Perhaps the best known, in 1972, when 5 Arab terrorists entered the Olympic Village in Munich Germany, and Slaughtered 11 unarmed Israeli athletes in cold blood. This beast must not be glorified! To the side, you will find a portrait of the real Yasser Arafat. A man courted by the Democrats and shunned by Republicans. Now do you know why God smiles on George Bush?
Yasser Arafat has compiled a record of atrocities which would be the envy of past war criminals. From the blowing-up of planes, through thousands of terrorist attacks, ordering the execution of American Ambassador to Sudan, Cleo No'l, charges des affaires George Moore and the Belgium aid, Guy Eid in Khartoum.

During the 12 year Civil War in Lebanon, caused by Yasser Arafat's assuming power through terror, his terrorists committed mass murder. Whole Villages of Christians like Damour were massacred, chopped into pieces with machetes. Out of the 30,000 Christians, 10,000 were slaughtered by Arafat's PLO. The town was then occupied and kept as Arafat's stronghold. David Shipler of the New York Times wrote the story of Damour June 21, 1982. There were individual murders. One horrific, but typical, example is when the Muktar (leader) of a village refused to be cooperative with Arafat and his terrorists. The Muktar's teenage daughter was abducted and raped. Her breasts were cut off and she was delivered to the doorstep of her father in a sack.

At 4:30 A.M. on September 5, 1972, five Arab terrorists wearing track suits climbed the six and ½ foot fence surrounding the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany. Once inside, they were met by three others who had gained entrance with credentials. Within 24 hours, 11 Israelis, five terrorists and a German policeman were dead. The Munich operation was ordered by Yasser Arafat and carried out by Fatah, Arafat's faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

-Arafat Finances Suicide Bombings
In a memorandum captured in Operation Defensive Shield, the Secretary-General of the Fatah office in Tulkarm requested that Arafat provide $2,000 to each of 15 specifically named "Fighting Brethren" of the Tanzim military wing of Fatah. According to Israeli military sources, each of the "fighters" was involved in the planning or execution of suicide attacks. With his own signature in Arabic, Arafat authorized the payment of $800 to each of the "fighters" on April 5, 2001.

-Arafat Finances Terrorist Attacks
On September 19, 2001, Arafat personally approved a request for payment of $600 to three people including Ra'ad Karmi, commander of the Tanzim in Tulkarm, who was personally involved in at least 25 shooting attacks against Israelis. Arafat funded Karmi even though Israel had placed Karmi on its "most-wanted" list just three months earlier. On the same day, Arafat approved payment to Amar Qadan, a member of his own Force-17 "Presidential Guard," who was involved in terrorist operations.
A second request was faxed to Arafat to fund 12 more terrorists. According to Colonel Miri Eisin of the IDF intelligence Branch, "Every single one of them was on our wanted list these are Tanzim members, which is Arafat's own party." Arafat knew well that these individuals were involved in terrorism. Nevertheless, on January 7, 2002, "Arafat himself in his handwriting, with his signature agreed to pay the money."
On January 17, 2002, two and a half weeks later, a Palestinian killed six Israelis and wounded twenty-six at a bat-mitzvah party in Hadera, initiated and planned by one of those on Arafat's list Mansur Saleh Sharim, who was already responsible for the deaths of at least three Israelis. Senior Fatah figures in Israeli custody, like Marwan Barghouti, admitted subsequently that Arafat approved funding for Fatah operatives with knowledge that it would be used to finance terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

-Arafat Commands the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
While some draw a distinction between Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Palestinians refute such assertions. The leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Tulkarm told USA Today in March 2002: "The truth is, we are Fatah, but we didn't operate under the name of Fatah We are the armed wing of the organization. We receive our instructions from Fatah. Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself."
In the early months of 2002, the number of attacks by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, including suicide bombings, exceeded those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On September 16, 2001, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades requested payment to cover expenses for "production of explosive charges" from Arafat's financial confidante, Fuad Shubaki, who, as the head of the Palestinian Authority's "Armed Forces Financial Directorate," was also the mastermind behind the Karine-A weapons ship delivery from Iran. That ship also carried huge amounts of C-4 explosives that could only be use for bombing attacks against Israel.

-Arafat Authorized Hamas and Islamic Jihad Attacks
During March 9-13, 1997 (and perhaps earlier), Arafat met personally in Gaza with the leaders of Hamas and other militant groups, and gave them the "green light" to resume terrorist attacks. Following those meetings, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak told Israel Radio on March 23, 1997: "Organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have an understanding from the Palestinian Authority to carry out attacks." After the outbreak of the violence in September 2000, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah coordinated together under the umbrella of the "Nationalist and Islamic Forces," led by Fatah.

Interesting exchange

2004-11-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

I've been having an interesting exchange with Megan at Blogalicious, check it out.Let's hope this sets the tone for the next 4 years.

We all need to come out of the bunkers and shake hands, hopefully we can still call this the UNITED States in another 4 years.

http://megzilla.blogspot.com/2004/11/dear-red-states.html#comments

We need to talk TO each other, not AT each other

Thank YOU! South Dakota

2004-11-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Probably the most significant development in the 2004 election:

Thank you and congratulations to the people of South Dakota on the defeat of the original Weapon of Crass Obstruction, Tom Daschle.

Congratulations to John Thune for a hard fought campaign. Glad my $30 helped.

Your neighbors to the north and east thank you all.

2004-11-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS! 4 More years. A bit of presidential election trivia for you: Previous record, most popular votes in an election:
54,455,075 Ronald Reagan 1984 Popular Vote
New record
58,527,956 George W Bush 2004 Popular Vote

Not ideal, but Ralphs gets a fair shake

2004-11-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

If this is a double post, I apologize. The blog's not working so well today.

Kudos to City Manager Bruce Messelt for finding an option to the city claiming eminent domain. He took the time to come up with a deal that will put the decision to keep Ralphs in it's present location, where it belongs, with the owners of the business. It's not ideal, but fair. He seems to realize that buildings only hold the true asset to the city, the businesses inside them.

City to buy out Ralph's
By Dave Roepke,The Forum
Published Tuesday, November 02, 2004

The owner of Ralph's Corner bar agreed Monday to a city buyout offer, adding the final piece to a block of downtown property Moorhead plans to sell to a developer.
The deal was sealed a few hours before the City Council was to consider starting the process of condemning the bar.
Council members instead approved an option agreement selling the building and the land it sits on to the city for $250,000, plus $8,500 for owner Don Wood to relocate his above-the-bar apartment.
If the Wood family decides it wants to continue operating Ralph's in the same location, the eventual developer of the property will take them up on the offer, City Manager Bruce Messelt said.
"That's a perfect world for the developer," Messelt said.
Mike Wood, Don Wood's son, said his family has operated the bar at 23 4th St. S. for 47 years and hopes to continue doing so in a new or renovated facility, as long as it's financially feasible.
"It's going to be a bottom- line decision. I've got my dad and my uncle to worry about. I've got employees to worry about," Wood said. "Talk to us next April, and we'll see how it works out."
According to the option agreement, Ralph's can stay in the current building rent-free until April 1, the day the sale will be official.
Wood said the family will have until then to consider its options: stay at the current location in a renovated or new facility, move to a new location or close.
"It's always been our first and foremost intention to stay here, but the numbers have to make sense," he said.
The cost of renovating the bar has been estimated as high as $800,000, Messelt said.
Ralph's would be an ideal anchor for the development area, said Peter Doll, the city's manager of developmental services.
"I can't imagine that a developer wouldn't give them a good offer because they would be the anchor," he said.
Doll, one of the city officials who spent Monday in off-and-on deliberations with the Woods, said the possibility of the city condemning the bar brought the negotiations to a head.
The council voted in June to push for the renovation or redevelopment of the row of five businesses on the west side of Fourth Street South.
Four of the owners quickly struck deals with the city. By August, Ralph's was the lone holdout.
Because it was the last day to apply for state grants to help pay for clearing the development site, the city set Monday as the deadline for the Woods to either sell or have a city-approved renovation plan.
If no deal was in place, the city needed to start condemnation proceedings to qualify for the grants, which could be worth as much as $500,000.
"We didn't want to lose another construction season," Messelt said.
Council members who were to decide whether to begin condemning the property instead voted unanimously to accept the buyout agreement.
"I'm not sure if this council can do the wave, but if we could, we would," Councilwoman Lauri Winterfeldt-Shanks said.
At Ralph's, patrons were buzzing Monday with news of a possible deal, as they have for months, said Manager J. Earl Miller.
"It's the same thing: What's going to happen, what's going to happen, what's going to happen," Miller said. "The problem is, we don't know."
Including the Ralph's buyout, the city has spent about $730,000 purchasing the block of land.
Next week city officials will begin talking about what to do with it.
While the city is certain to sell the property to a developer, council members will begin discussing the terms, conditions and expectations for the redevelopment Monday.
"If we do not, we will be underwhelmed," Messelt said.
The city could have a developer chosen as early as February, he said.

I still think a west wall renovation of the properties would have cost less than the $730,000 in buyouts, but what do I know, I'm only a taxpayer.

2004-11-02T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well, Duh!

2004-10-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Iraqi weapons moved to Syria!?

By Russians? In a potential war zone?

How could this be?

France would never do such a thing. They might get hurt.

Help us all, every one.

2004-10-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

e-mail response from $enator Marshall-Fields regarding the pro FairTax e-mail I sent:

Thank you for contacting me about creating a flat tax and eliminating the current United States tax code.

The idea of a flat tax program may seem to simplify the current system, but abolishing our current program would not be the answer. Currently, our progressive income tax system requires taxation proportionate to the income that an individual makes. A wage-based flat tax would provide a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, because the majority of their assets are not earned income. Under the same system, a taxpayer earning less than $27,000 would see his or her top tax rate increase by at least 2% under the current proposal. With a flat tax, not only would there be difficult transitional issues, but the burden of paying taxes would shift to the middle- and lower income citizens, and the poor.

My best regards.

Sincerely,

Mark Dayton
United States Senator

My Reply:

Senator Dayton,

My e-mail did not concern a "flat tax", but the Fair Tax, which is a progressive national sales tax. You may want to read up on HR25 which was co-authored by Minnesota Representative Colin Peterson (D).

No matter which way you slice it the current tax code and the bloated bureaucracy of the IRS need to be scrapped since they reward failure and punish success. The current tax code acts as a wealth redistribution system in this country and is complex, unfair and immoral.

I will keep your views in mind on November 2, 2006.

Thank you.

I think I feel a case of Hyper-Cerebral Blogosis coming on...

Divide & Conquer

2004-10-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from Jack Kinsella -

One could argue convincingly that America entered into a period of cold civil war on November 2nd, 2000. The post election recount debacle exposed Al Gore and his party as a 'second' America, and creating the 'Red State/Blue State divide.

All wars, even cold ones, have underlying causes. Taken to its lowest common denominator, the Red States believe that our rights are guaranteed by our Creator, whereas the Blue States believe they are guaranteed by government.

The Red States believe that certain things are so obviously wrong that defining them as wrong is unnecessary, whereas the Blue States are in a perpetual search for the next legal loophole.

Don't misunderstand -- I am not saying everybody in the Red States thinks one way, or that everybody in the Blue States thinks another. But in each case, the majority of voters do.

One can learn a lot about America by looking at what Americans think is funny. Jay Leno told one joke last night that captured the essence of the cold civil war ongoing between the two Americas.

"Al Gore accused President Bush of using religion to support his presidency. And George Bush fired back that 'Al Gore's just mad because God made me president.'"

The Al Gore joke is fitting, because it was Al Gore who first declared war on Red State America. Al Gore initially conceded defeat in 2000, going so far as to call George Bush on the telephone to congratulate him on his narrow victory.

The next morning, Al Gore awoke to find out just HOW narrow, called Bush, retracted his concession (unheard of in US political history) and launched an all-out assault on the election process itself.

He challenged the voting machines, the honesty of election officials, fought to suppress the military vote, attempted to disqualify entire categories of voters, and brought America to the edge of a Constitutional crisis that had to finally be solved by the US Supreme Court.

Losing seemed to unhinge Gore somewhat. In fact, John Podheretz speculated in a New York Post column that he believed Al Gore had gone legally insane. But the insanity infected Blue State America as well.

Blue State America (the Democrats) has spent the last four years systematically dismantling America, keeping its promise to destroy the Bush presidency by 'any means necessary' -- and at whatever cost.

Bob Just noted in a column that, "The furious fringe is taking over the party. They are solidified in their sense of victim hood. They aren't looking for compromise, but for total victory – revenge almost – in fulfilling their vision for a new America, one that has nothing to do with Christianity or Judaism, the pumping heart of true Americanism."

During the Iraq War, Blue America took every opportunity to undermine the administration -- and the United States, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, while reshaping world opinion of America with phrases like 'selected and not elected' and 'regime change' and 'Bush lied, people died'.

That it aided America's enemies is a no-brainer. The terrorists are crazy, but they are not stupid. They know that a divided America is easier to defeat and they are doubtless endlessly grateful for the daily reports from US newspapers that encourage them to persevere in their cause.

Just as the Democrats seem endlessly grateful to the terrorists for each act of terrorism, so that they can trumpet America's failures as evidence we are fighting the 'wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time' hoping to scare enough votes to their side so that they can win this year's election.

Consider this. The Kerry campaign told Fox News this weekend that they have recruited an army of TEN THOUSAND lawyers -- just in Florida -- to challenge the results of this election. John Kerry has announced that he will challenge the election results, whether the vote is close or not.

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, an unprecedented number of lawsuits challenging basic election rules are pending in many of the battleground states.

"Bush v. Gore really let the genie out of the bottle," said Richard L. Hasen, an election law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Election law has become just another part of the political strategy of the parties."

Democratic legal specialists are ready to wage recount battles in as many as five states at once. The Kerry campaign said it has raised more than $3 million for legal expenses.

Incredibly, the Democrats are openly admitting that if they can't win the election, they intend to attempt a legal coup d'etat -- using an army of lawyers instead of armed revolutionaries -- but a coup effort nonetheless.

"This has been one of the top, if not the top, priorities," said the Kerry campaign's general counsel, Marc Elias. "The legal team is satisfied that we are working for a candidate who will not shy away from a full engagement with the other side."

The Kerry strategy is to win the election. For four years, the Democrats have been exploiting voter anger over Election 2000, promising Anybody but Bush will restore integrity to the electoral process.

But just in case, they have an army of ten thousand lawyers standing by to steal it. And, even if it doesn't work this time, the DNC thinks long-term.

If they can keep the 'selected not elected' label on Bush for another four-year term as a lame-duck, they hope America will be in such a mess by then that voters will rush to join the Blue States. That is the game plan, and it is already in play.

Tick . . . Tick . . . Tick. . .

My dead cat might have an opinion on that

2004-10-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I had pretty much heard from every anti-Bush group this year, but, alas, I was wrong.

The way we were?

2004-10-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

From the Grand Potentate of Blogdom, James Lileks:

Keeping the country united? Good luck. Imagine FDR running a war with a press composed of cynical snickerers who derided the president as a rich old cripple who thought the best way to defeat Tojo was a war in North Africa and preached defeat every day through the hard slog of the Pacific theater. Imagine running a war with an entertainment industry that declined to make a single movie about the conflict - why, imagine a "Casablanca" where Rick and Sam argue about whether America started it all because they didn’t support the League of Nations. Imagine a popular radio drama running through the early 40s about a smart, charismatic, oh-so-intellectual Republican president whose bourbon baritone mocked FDR’s patrician whine, a leader who took no guff from Stalin OR Hitler! Lux Soap brings you, The West Wing of the White House! Imagine Thomas Dewey’s wife in 1944 calling the WW2 a war for oil; imagine former vice presidents insisting that FDR had played on our fears after Pearl Harbor. Imagine all that.

FDR won the 1944 election 25,602,504 votes to Dewey’s 22,006,285. And this was almost two million votes less than he got in 1940. Did he fail to unify the country, if half the voters wanted someone else? Or is that just how we always are, more or less?

If you found my measly scrap of internet flotsam I'm sure you're a regular reader of The Daily Bleat. If you're not, you owe it to yourself.

Which World Military Power?

2004-10-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these statistics and think about what they could mean in today's world:

709,000 Regular (active duty) Personnel.

293,000 Reserve Troops.

EIGHT Standing Army Divisions.

20 AIR FORCE and NAVY Air Wings with
2,000 COMBAT AIRCRAFT
232 STRATEGIC BOMBERS.

19 Strategic Ballistic Missile SUBMARINES with
3,114 NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON 232 MISSILES.
500 ICBMs with 1,950 WARHEADS.

FOUR Aircraft Carriers
121 Surface combat SHIPS and SUBMARINES
Plus, all the support bases, shipyards, and logistical assets needed to sustain such a naval force.

WHICH COUNTRY'S MILITARY MIGHT IS THIS?

RUSSIA? NO

CHINA? NO

GREAT BRITAIN? NO

FRANCE? WRONG AGAIN (That's a lot of cheese and wine.)

IRAQ? NO

MUST BE THE USA? STILL WRONG (sort of)

GIVE UP?

THESE ARE THE AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES THAT WERE ELIMINATED DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION.

Their elimination was 100% SUPPORTED BY JOHN KERRY (These are the ones he bothered to show up to vote on)

Well, we won the cold war, and the only enemy we faced was the Conservative movement in the USA. Why not get rid of the troops and equipment?
We had programs to fund, failures to reward and successes to punish right here in the good ol' USA.
Besides, the UN or NATO would back us up. Right? Right?

Convene the UN subcommittee on frowning hard and saying harrumph! The US has been attacked!

Get me another one of them "American Cowboys" for President, there's some respect to be taught - again.

Weak on de fence, and the window, and the yard...

2004-10-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Interesting little bit on the design of the sign. Seems Kerry is even weak on design along with defense.

2004-10-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

From Cox & Forkum. Some people can see through the layers. Educate your misguided liberal friends on the difference between a Free Market Republic and Communism.

I'd worry about falling off the front step first.

2004-10-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

But what about the vaccine for hand wringing?

A little huffy today

2004-10-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

My side of a recent e-mail to a Poor Misguided Liberal:

No, Vietnam was not started by Kennedy, it was started by Truman. But let's not let this part get lost - to BAIL OUT FRANCES ASS... AGAIN.

Eisenhower carries on the previous administration's policy and Kennedy escalates the whole thing as a show of strength to the Soviet Union.

Johnson goes ape $#!^ and turns the thing into a circus. Who ENDED it? Nixon. The whipping boy of the left for the last 30 years. "Nixons war" they call it. HUH!? Nixon brought the boys back home to be promptly spit on by the John Kerry, liberal anti-war types who had demanded the boys come home. (Why are most liberal anti-war types Democrats, when they are the party that escalated the Vietnam war to such a level in the 60's?)

Really the war on Terrorism has been going on since Jimmy Carter failed to stand up to the Middle Eastern Mullahs in 1979. Reagan was focused on defeating the Soviet Union. Bush Sr, and Clinton all ignored the problem. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, the islamo-fascist movement (thinking THEY defeated the Soviet Union) turned their angry, toweled heads to the United States. They escalated their war on us through the 90's while Clinton/Gore tackled the "real" threat to America, the anti-socialist movement, while ignoring the drumbeats of war from the islamo-fascists.

A little hisory for you. Shortly after Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, riding the slogan "Death to America" -, the attacks on Americans soon began. In November 1979, a militant Islamic mob took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital, and held 52 Americans hostage for the next 444 days.

The rescue team sent to free those hostages in April 1980 suffered eight fatalities, making them the first of militant Islam's many American casualties. Others included:

April 1983: 17 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.

October 1983: 241 dead at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

December 1983: five dead at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.

January 1984: the president of the American University of Beirut killed.

April 1984: 18 dead near a U.S. airbase in Spain.

September 1984: 16 dead at the U.S. embassy in Beirut (again).

December 1984: Two dead on a plane hijacked to Tehran.

June 1985: One dead on a plane hijacked to Beirut.

After a let-up, the attacks then restarted: Five and 19 dead in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, 224 dead at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998 and 17 dead on the USS Cole (US SOIL!) in Yemen in October 2000.

Simultaneously, the murderous assault of militant Islam also took place on U.S. soil:

July 1980: an Iranian dissident killed in the Washington, D.C. area.

August 1983: a leader of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam killed in Canton, Mich.

August 1984: three Indians killed in a suburb of Tacoma, Wash.

September 1986: a doctor killed in Augusta, Ga.

January 1990: an Egyptian freethinker killed in Tucson, Ariz.

November 1990: a Jewish leader killed in New York.

February 1991: an Egyptian Islamist killed in New York.

January 1993: two CIA staff killed outside agency headquarters in Langley, Va.

February 1993: Six people killed at the first World Trade Center bombing.

March 1994: an Orthodox Jewish boy killed on the Brooklyn Bridge.

February 1997: a Danish tourist killed on the Empire State building.

October 1999: 217 passengers killed on an EgyptAir flight near New York City.

In all, 800 persons lost their lives in the course of attacks by militant Islam on Americans before September 2001 - more than killed by any other enemy since the Vietnam War. (Further, this listing does not include the dozens more Americans in Israel killed by militant Islamic terrorists.)

Add to this the 3,025 who died on September 11, 2001.

Bush is the first US president to tackle the problem head on. You think it's gonna go away if you just ignore it? You think they want to sit down and "talk about it"? That is the policy we had up until September 12, 2001. Worked pretty good, didn't it?

We have gone into Iraq to:

1.) Tear down the MOST oppressive regime in the world and free a people we teased with freedom twice and failed, due to gutless political decisions by ineffective leaders concerned with re-election and polls.

(No, Korea is not next since the people there will soon run out of neighbors to eat and will eventually turn on Kim Jong Ill or there won't be anyone left for him rule since they have to eat each other to survive.)

2.) Tear down the terrorist training facilities that were being built within the country. (Zarqawi's group fled Afganistan for safe harbor in Iraq, which he got from Saddam)

3.) Prevent the collaboration of Al Quida groups and Saddam. He was already funding Hamas and was preparing to work with Al Quida.

4.) If you have rats, you don't set the traps in your bed, you set them where the rats are. In the dark corners and crawl spaces. Terrorists are the same as rats.

We are focusing their venom on us in Iraq rather than here. Which one do you want, you only have two choices. Military attacks in a foreign lands or random attacks on civilians in the US.

If you're looking for Iraq's WMD's, look in the Bekka Valley in Syria. There's a lot of French made weaponry that appeared on train cars from Iraq during that year long "Rush to War".

We should have just let all that go? It's not our business? We have more important things to worry about in the US, like how many people are getting free condoms or that we don't measure up to Europe's failed model of socialism? The US Government owes you something? John Kerry is promising everyone healthcare and a job, the Chinese do the same thing, and they even pick the job for you! You also get mandatory abortion and state sponsored euthanasia, UTOPIA!

There is an exit strategy for Iraq. Iraqi's taking over their own military, police and government. It's similar to our exit strategy in WWII. Oh, BTW, we are FINALLY pulling out of Germany after a 57 year "occupation", and you're worried about a 2 year operation? It takes a while to teach people how to be free, when they have never known freedom in their lifetime. Insuring others in the world have the opportunity to provide themselves with the United States standard of living is our responsibility, we might even say it should be the standard for passing the "Global Test"?

So, we're really talking about 25 years of half-assed US involvement in the Middle East, with the lesson being - don't go in if you don't have the focus or the stomach to stay until the job is done.

When you go into a game, a deal or a war, you don't know if you're going to win, you assume it.

Otherwise, what's the point of trying to win or improve anything?

But then that may have been your point.

2004-10-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'll be gone for the rest of the week. I leave you with a little beauty to contrast the last week of brain drool. See you next week! Ya better come back, den dere. You betcha.

H. Thomas Hayden: Failure Is Not an Option

2004-10-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,Hayden_101904,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

That's not bias, that's fact, man.

2004-10-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

CNN's HOWARD KURTZ: "It is a tight race. Do you believe that most reporters want John Kerry to win?"
NEWSWEEK'S EVAN THOMAS: "Yeah, absolutely."
KURTZ: "Do you think they're deliberately tilting their coverage to help John Kerry and John Edwards?"
THOMAS: "Not really."
KURTZ:"Subconsciously tilting their coverage?"
THOMAS:"Maybe."
KURTZ:"Maybe."
THOMAS:"Maybe."
KURTZ:"Including at Newsweek?"
THOMAS:"Yeah."
KURTZ:"You've said on the program 'Inside Washington' that because of the portrayal of Kerry and Edwards as young and optimistic, that's worth maybe 15 points. That would suggest."
THOMAS:"Stupid thing to say. It was completely wrong. I do think that the mainstream press, I'm not talking about the blogs and Rush and all that, but the mainstream press favors Kerry. I don't think it's worth 15 points. That was just a stupid thing to say."
KURTZ:"Is it worth five?"
THOMAS:"Maybe, maybe."
(CNN's Reliable Sources, October 17, 2004)

Welcome to America!

2004-10-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

If you are one of the thousands of scumbags that tries to sneak into the United States along our north or south border, you'll be greeted by one of these little babies.

The Department of Homeland security is using this UAV in some of the biggest problem areas along the northern and southern borders.

Now, if we can just get them to arm them with something other than a camera...

Thanks Israel. They know a little something about securing borders too.

Yet MORE proof John Kerry is an idiot

2004-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

From the US CPB, part of the Bush failure - the Homeland Security Department...

Fact Sheet: Cargo Container Security - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Reality

(10/01/2004)Myth:
Only a small number of the containers that come into the ports are inspected.

Summary of Reality:

We use intelligence to screen information on 100% of cargo entering our ports, and all cargo that presents a risk to our country is inspected using large x-ray and radiation detection equipment.

Following 9/11, the Administration developed and implemented a smarter strategy to identify, target, and inspect cargo containers before they reach U.S. ports. Anyone can secure a nation by closing its borders and inspect everything and everybody that enters. Closing the borders is not an option.

None of the security measures implemented as a result of this strategy existed before 9/11.

Our strategy is to rule out potential threats before arrival at our borders and ports. In fact, the security measures now in place allowed us to rule out 94% of the cargo as potential threats prior to arrival. This year, six percent (6 %) of total cargo containers were identified as potential threats and were physically inspected immediately upon arrival. (The percentage will change annually because the inspections are based upon identified risk following intensive screening.) Dramatically increasing physical inspections after arrival is a waste of resources that will not appreciably increase our national security. In fact, the type of increase in physical inspections implied by this allegation would cost billions of dollars in resources and cripple not only our economy, but the global economy as well.

Key Facts That Did Not Exist Before 9-11:

We use intelligence to review information on 100% of all cargo information entering U.S. ports, and all cargo that presents a risk to our country is inspected using large x-ray and radiation detection equipment.

Following 9/11, under the leadership of President Bush we developed and implemented a smart cargo container security strategy to identify, target, and inspect cargo containers before they reach U.S. ports. Under this strategy:
All containers, 100%, identified as posing a terrorist risk are inspected using x-ray scans and radiation detection equipment. (i.e. Potential for concealment of terrorist weapons or terrorists.)

The Administration requires that advance information be given to our border agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, about all containers well before they arrive. In fact, the information is required 24 hours before they are loaded on to vessels at foreign seaports (24-Hour Rule).

Containers posing a potential terrorist threat are identified and targeted before they arrive at U.S. seaports by the National Targeting Center (NTC). The NTC was established as the centralized coordination point for all of CBP’s anti-terrorism efforts. Prior to 9/11, no national level targeting of people or goods crossing our borders existed.
NTC uses intelligence and terrorist indicators to review advance information for all cargo, passengers, and imported food shipments before arrival into the U.S.
NTC coordinates with other federal agencies such as U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Air Marshals, FBI, Transportation Security Administration, and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture, as well as the intelligence community.

The Administration works with our foreign partners to allow U.S. officers working at major international seaports, currently 26, to identify and inspect containers prior to being loaded onto ships destined for the U.S. Container Security Initiative (CSI)

The Administration created a public-private and international partnership with over 7,000 businesses, including most of the largest U.S. importers -- the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Under this program, legitimate companies that do regular business with the U.S. have increased their own security to prevent terrorists from infiltrating their shipments. (We check not only the company shipping the goods, but also the companies that provided them with any services.)
Approximately 40% of all cargo headed for the U.S. is transported by C-TPAT partners and is therefore better secured.
Additional technology has been added, including Radiation Portal Monitors, Isotope Identifiers, and Personal Radiation Monitors. For the first time CBP has added chemical and explosive detector dogs.

Fair shake for the Fair Tax

2004-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

"As a nonpartisan group forwarding a well-researched full replacement for income and Social Security taxation, we are appalled to discover the Democratic Congressional Committee's series of mailings misrepresenting our legislation, targeted for congressional races where the Republican challenger appears to be winning," said FairTax.org Executive Director Tom Wright. "They have twisted the truth about our bill and launched a national, partisan attack on our progressive national retail sales tax - the FairTax. This follows millions of dollars in misleading TV ads in several states, and most recently thousands of our members and the American public were subjected to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in 'push polls' against a national sales tax."

A series of mailings are scheduled to begin this week, funded by the DCCC on the bipartisan FairTax Bill, HR25/S 1493. These mailings are chock full of misrepresentations, falsehoods, and lies about the national sales tax.

Therefore, it is now time to provide some facts and the truth on the FairTax.

The FairTax ends federal paycheck deductions of all kinds; the workingman or woman gets a full paycheck. The plan is a total replacement for all income and Social Security taxes: Personal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, earned income tax credit, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment, and corporate taxes. The FairTax virtually eliminates the IRS.

The FairTax plan is revenue neutral; it neither raises nor lowers taxes. The rate is set to raise the same revenue the replaced taxes raise today. For most taxpayers, that is a zero sum game, neither raising nor lowering their taxes. As an organization, we wish to remove ourselves from battles over tax hikes or cuts, special interests, winners and losers. While the FairTax will make federal taxes very, very obvious (and easy for taxpayers to control themselves), there is no intention to give large groups any break over what they are paying now, nor to burden another group.

The FairTax is a progressive tax.

Only the biggest spenders pay the maximum rate; those at or below the poverty level pay an honest and transparent nothing.

No one living at or under the poverty level as determined the by the Department of Health & Human Services will pay any federal tax (hidden or obvious) on any of their spending. Today our working poor are burdened with the most regressive tax of all, Social Security, which they pay with every paycheck their entire working lives. The FairTax ends that.

The FairTax does not raise costs, since it does not raise taxes.

According to Dale Jorgenson, Harvard economics professor, people on fixed income (and every other consumer in America) pay an average of 22 percent in hidden corporate taxes and compliance costs with every good they buy. Hidden taxes on services average 25 percent. The FairTax ends this. Competition is going to force the prices on goods and services to come down once the providers of these goods and services find that they can purchase them at lower prices. The FairTax does not tax used goods. And finally, a rebate zeros the tax up to the poverty level.

For more on the national sales tax please visit us at www.fairtax.org or call

1-800-FAIRTAX

2004-10-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

2004-10-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

More on Kerrys voting record

2004-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Kerry has voted for at least SEVEN major reductions in Defense and Military spending, necessary for our national security:

1) In 1996 - Introduced Bill to slash Defense Department Funding by $6.5 Billion.

2) In 1995 - Voted to freeze Defense spending for 7 years, slashing over $34 billion from Defense.

3) Fiscal 1996 Budget Resolution - Defense Freeze. "Harkin, D-Iowa, amendment to freeze defense spending for the next seven years and transfer the $34.8 billion in savings to education and job training."

4) In 1993 - Introduced plan to cut numerous Defense programs, including:

Cut the number of Navy submarines and their crews
Reduce the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one
Reduce tactical fighter wings in the Air Force
Terminate the Navy's coastal mine-hunting ship program
Force the retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the Armed Forces in one year.

5) Has voted repeatedly to cut Defense spending, including:

In 1993, voted against increased Defense spending for Military Pay Raise. Kerry voted to kill an increase in military pay over five years.
In 1992, voted to cut $6 billion from Defense.
In 1991, voted to slash over $3 Billion from Defense. Shift money to social programs.
In 1991, voted to cut defense spending by 2%
Voted repeatedly to cut or eliminate funding for B-2 Stealth Bomber
Voted repeatedly against Missile Defense - Weapons Kerry sought to phase out were VITAL in Iraq. "[K]erry supported cancellation of a host of weapons systems that have become the basis of US military might-the high-tech munitions and delivery systems on display to the world as they leveled the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in a matter of weeks." (Brian C. Mooney, "Taking One Prize, Then A Bigger One," The Boston Globe, 6/19/03)
Military hardware he felt we no longer need since the "cold war" is past. The money would be better spent on "social" programs. These weapons are now the core of our military might.
- F-16 Fighting Falcons.
- B-1Bs B-2As F-15 And F-16s
- M1 Abrams
- Patriot Missile
- AH-64 Apache Helicopter
- Tomahawk Cruise Missile
- Aegis Air-Defense Cruiser

6) During 1980s Kerry And Michael Dukakis joined forces with liberal group dedicated to slashing Defense. Kerry sat on the board of "Jobs With Peace Campaign," which sought to "develop public support for cutting the defense budget..."("Pentagon Demonstrators Call For Home-Building, Not Bombs," The Associated Press, 6/3/88)

7) While running for Congress in 1972, Kerry promised to cut Defense Spending. "On what he'll do if he's elected to Congress," Kerry said he would 'bring a different kind of message to the president." He said he would, "Vote against military appropriations." ("Candidate's For Congress Capture Campus In Andover," Lawrence [MA] Eagle-Tribune, 4/21/72)

"So you can look at all the potential threats of the world, and when you add the expenditures of all of our allies to the United States of America, you have to stop and say to yourself, 'What is it that we are really preparing for in a post-cold-war world?'"
(Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 5/15/96, p. S5061)

Who's with us?

2004-10-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

I wish I had my blog up and running two years ago, then I would have evidence to show that I was saying this back then!

Monday, October 18, 2004

Charles Duelfer told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month he could not rule out Saddam's transfer of Iraqi missiles and weapons of mass destruction to Syria.

Duelfer, an adviser to the CIA, said at the Oct. 6 hearing that a large amount of material had been transferred by Iraq to Syria before the March 2003 war.

"A lot of materials left Iraq and went to Syria," Duelfer said. "There was certainly a lot of traffic across the border points. We've got a lot of data to support that, including people discussing it. But whether in fact in any of these trucks there was WMD-related materials, I cannot say."

The Iraq Survey Group, headed by Duelfer, said Russia, Syria, Jordan and other arms suppliers were paid from Iraqi oil revenues.

A CIA report, authored by the Iraq Survey Group, identified Russia and Syria atop a list of 12 arms suppliers to Iraq until the U.S.-led war against Baghdad started in March 2003.

The report listed Russia and Syria above North Korea Â regarded as the leading missile proliferator to the Middle East Â as leading suppliers to Baghdad.

Jordan was the third largest supplier of weapons to Iraq.

After Jordan came Belarus, China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, France, Romania and Turkey. The report said these countries were involved in both "weapons of mass destruction and arms-related procurement."

The report said Saddam diverted money from the UN oil-for-food program to pay for both conventional and nonconventional weapons and components.

The report said state-owned companies in Russia and Syria defied UN sanctions and supplied weapons and platforms to Baghdad. The report said Syria also served as the leading route for illegal arms supplies from Europe and other countries.

Several of Iraq's neighbors were said to have joined in the secret military effort to aid Baghdad. The report Â based on interviews with senior Iraqi officials and 40 million pages of documents and classified intelligence Â cited Jordan and Turkey as leading suppliers to the Saddam regime.

Russia, Syria, Jordan, Belarus, China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, France, Romania and Turkey

These must be the countries John Kerry is lamenting are not in the coalition. :-*
Let's see where the world stands, shall we?

Blue - In Coalition
Red - Supplied Weapons to Saddam
Purple - Did Both (the real bastards!)

Grey - Against US position verbally only
Black - Not committed publicly

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burma (Myanmar)
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Costa Rica
CÃ´te d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
England (U.K.)
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Great Britain (U.K.)
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, North
Korea, South
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Northern Ireland (U.K.)
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian State*
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
SÃ£o TomÃ© and PrÃncipe
Saudi Arabia
Scotland (U.K.)
Senegal
Serbia and Montenegro
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City (Holy See)
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wales (U.K.)
Western Sahara*
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe

No flaming bag of dog poop award for you!

2004-10-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

And this is why I'll vote for him again.

-----Original Message-----
From: Opinion@coleman.senate.gov [mailto:Opinion@coleman.senate.gov]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 2:21 PM

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding your support for a
national sales tax. I appreciate your attention to this important
national issue.

At the present time, there are a number of legislative proposals that
would replace the tax code with a national sales tax. For instance,
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has introduced legislation that would
replace the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, the payroll
tax, the self-employment tax and the estate and gift tax with a 23
percent national sales tax. In addition, a bill authored by now retired
Representative Billy Tauzin (R-LA) would repeal both the individual and
corporate income tax, the estate and gift tax and some of the federal
excise taxes and put in place a 15 percent national sales tax.

I understand your concerns regarding the complexity of our tax code. In
1955, there were 744,000 words in the tax code. By 2000 this number grew
to 6.9 million. Currently, there are 325 separate forms to be filled
out, and taxpayers spend more than 5.8 billion hours each year preparing
them. In addition, estimates are that taxpayers spend almost $200
billion each year in complying with the tax laws. There is no doubt
that the tax code and the forms are burdensome, onerous, and unduly
complicated. The vast majority of Americans now require professional
help to fill out a tax return.

You may be interested to know that during the consideration of the Jobs
and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, I supported a sense of
the Senate urging the Senate Finance Committee and the Congressional
Joint Economic Committee to undertake a comprehensive analysis of tax
simplification, including the national sales tax, and to hold
appropriate hearings on the issue.

Please know that I will continue to be an advocate of simplifying and
streamlining the tax code at every opportunity, and will continue to
support alternatives such as a national sales tax.

Thank you once again for contacting me. I value your advice. If I can
be of further assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Senator Norm Coleman

More old stuff from the early 80's

2004-10-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Growing up, the logo for this local bank symbolized Fargo for me. The 2nd tallest building in the city at the time and best looking of the two, the building holds a place of honor at the foot of Broadway. It still dominates the skyline beating out the hideous Fargo High Rise and the boring mid 80's style of the Radisson tower. The village west location hasn't changed significantly. Not too many years after this ad, Fargo National Bank was purchased by First Interstate Bank. The buildings are currently home to Community First Bank.

2004-10-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Oh what a difference 20 years can make. Here's a shot of the heart of North Dakota commerce from the 1982 Binford Guide. View is to the South West with the intersection of I29 and 13th Ave S in the center. I have dropped in the names of the larger business to surround the area. The area in this photo is now almost compeletly developed to the tree line at the horizon.

Hannity in Fargo

2004-10-18T08:13:00.001-07:00

I forgot the camera so I stole the picture from the Fargo Forum.

Sean Hannity appeared at the Fargo Air Museum on Saturday, drawing a crowd of about 1,200-1,300 people to listen to him and for the opportunity to have a copy of Deliver Us From Evil signed by the author (yes I got one).

"It would be the equivalent of removing Winston Churchill before World War II ended" If Americans don't re-elect President George W. Bush Hannity said.

"President Bush has a sense of right and wrong and decency and moral clarity," he said. "He has what it takes to preserve, protect and defend the greatest country in the world."

Sean left no liberal stone unturned, Daschle, Carville, Clinton(s), Kerry and Ted *hic* Kennedy were all attacked (rightly so) for their left wing tactics. Audience participation was also encouraged as one memeber of the crowd came forward to do a very good Howard Dean screech.

At one point Hannity asked for the liberal in the crowd to come forward, when he did Hannity asked him to name one specific thing Kerry had accomplished in his years of service in the Senate. Of course he couldn't, underlining the fact that Kerry is a poor choice for president.

He pointed to Kerry's record on military spending, Iraq and increasing taxes as other reasons.

Many Kerry supporters say they're voting for Kerry only because they're AGAINST Bush. Is this the best qualification they can find in John Kerry, that he's not Bush?

The highlight of the day came when 9-year-old Miranda stole the show by singing her rendition of "I Love My Country" bringing many of those gathered for the event to their feet and some to tears.

My highlight of the day was meeting the two Vietnam Veterans who flanked me on my left and right. I felt really small standing between these two men and under the landing gear of the fully restored Grumman TBF Avenger. As they swapped stories, I broke in and told them that while they were risking all in a foreign land 33 years ago, I was filling my Pampers. I offered both a sincere Thank You for all they did to help keep me free and giving me the right to attend such functions as this one.

As a matter of fact, for all you Veterans reading this, from a humble 34 year old, THANK YOU.

All in all it was great to see there are some level headed North Dakotans in a community with 3 Universities. As the self appointed guardian of the Minnesota northern front, I may have to let down my guard to the impending Dakotan invasion. We could use some of that good old down home common sense to infiltrate the Twin Cities.

Imagine 500,000 North Dakotans invading the liberal bastion of Minneapolis/St. Paul from the north. Push them back to the coasts where they belong!

2004-10-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Photo Ann Arbor Miller / The Forum

2004-10-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, but sometimes you spend a lot of spare time on something and you don't want to put it in the trash (recycle bin for you windows users). I'm done now. Have a good weekend.

2004-10-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

I really like this early 60's concept for the garage of the future. Not so fond of the furniture, but I like the concept of an "indoor" outdoor area off the garage. I wouldn't mind the car either. Up in these parts, you'd want to keep your garage door opening to a minimum during the nasty bits of winter though.

Some things die hard

2004-10-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. There's an analogy in here somewhere...

http://www.danielcasey.com/2004/10/movie-poster.htm

I am a Scout Leader... and a blog is like a little newspaper... Nah.

A few more whacks with the aluminum bat should kill it.

Whack!

[poking with stick]

Whump!

Whack!

[nudge with foot]

There. It's done then.

A moment of silence please for the life that it took on and we so cruelly had to take back.

2004-10-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

We're down to 3. Since Lileks is out, in no uncertain terms, I haven't decided if I'm going to support Mark Kennedy or the Cantaloupe yet. I think Kennedy would have a better policy than the fruit, or the Cantaloupe for that matter.

Hannity to hit Fargo/Moorhead

2004-10-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 16th, 2004
Fargo, ND

Time: Speech at 1pm CST followed by a limited book signing at 2pm CST
Place: Fargo Air Museum

Details: Seating is limited to the first 900 fans. Standing room only for the remainder...total capacity will be about 2,500. Space is limited....first come, first served. The first 500 Sean Hannity fans through the door will receive the opportunity to purchase Sean's latest New York Times best-selling book "Deliver us from Evil". Because of time-constraints, Sean will only be able to sign the 500 books available for sale to the first 500 through the door. The event is FREE! No Ticket is required! Don't miss this opportunity to see and hear the host of the Sean Hannity Radio show heard on WDAY AM 970 and nearly 500 stations across the nation...plus the co-host of the #1 political debate program on TV...Hannity & Colmes on the Fox news Channel.

Details and Pictures Monday (If I get in).

That'll do it.

2004-10-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

With all of my lamentations over the rash of vandalism of Bush/Cheney signs and stickers, I never thought of this...

2004-10-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Kerry: "What I can promise you is that I will make the playing field as fair as possible, that I will, for instance, make certain that with respect to the tax system that you as a worker in America are not subsidizing the loss of your job".
Communist Manfesto: "The weapons with which the bourgeoisie felled feudalism to the ground are now turned against the bourgeoisie itself. But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons -- the modern working class -- the proletarians."

Kerry: We have fought to try to raise the minimum wage in the last years. But the Republican leadership of the House and Senate won't even let us have a vote on it. We're not allowed to vote on it. They don't want to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage is the lowest minimum wage value it has been in our nation in 50 years.
If we raise the minimum wage, which I will do over several years to $7 an hour, 9.2 million women who are trying to raise their families would earn another $3,800 a year.
The president has denied 9.2 million women $3,800 a year, but he doesn't hesitate to fight for $136,000 to a millionaire.
One percent of America got $89 billion last year in a tax cut, but people working hard, playing by the rules, trying to take care of their kids, family values, that we're supposed to value so much in America -- I'm tired of politicians who talk about family values and don't value families.
What we need to do is raise the minimum wage. We also need to hold onto equal pay. Women work for 76 cents on the dollar for the same work that men do. That's not right in America.
And we had an initiative that we were working on to raise women's pay. They've cut it off. They've stopped it. They don't enforce these kinds of things.
Now, I think that it a matter of fundamental right that if we raise the minimum wage, 15 million Americans would be positively affected. We'd put money into the hands of people who work hard, who obey the rules, who play for the American Dream.
And if we did that, we'd have more consumption ability in America, which is what we need right in order to kick our economy into gear. I will fight tooth and nail to pass the minimum wage.
Communist Manifesto: The average price of wage labor is the minimum wage, i.e., that quantum of the means of subsistence which is absolutely requisite to keep the laborer in bare existence as a laborer. What, therefore, the wage laborer appropriates by means of his labor merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence. We by no means intend to abolish this personal appropriation of the products of labor, an appropriation that is made for the maintenance and reproduction of human life, and that leaves no surplus wherewith to command the labor of others. All that we want to do away with is the miserable character of this appropriation, under which the laborer lives merely to increase capital, and is allowed to live only in so far as the interest of the ruling class requires it. . . "

Kerry: "But I think it makes sense, I think most Americans in their guts know, that we ought to pass a sort of truth standard. That's how you gain legitimacy with your own countrypeople, and that's how you gain legitimacy in the world. "
Communist Manifesto: United action of the leading civilized countries at least is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat. In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another will also be put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.

But did he have affordable health insurance?

2004-10-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

John Kerry was heard to lament after hearing of the procedure...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/6235359/

2004-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Lileks for Senate 06

2004-10-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

I wish I knew when to quit sometimes...

Some of the public input I have received at lileksforsenate.com on the concept of Lileks running for US Senate:

From Carl: "He is way too smart to join the “black hole” called the Senate. Too many good ideas enter the hallowed halls if this debating chamber and simply disappear, vanish, poof, like a vapor, like the spring grass that withers and is seen no more. Would you really want to subject Lileks to that? Besides there’s the Gnat factor. He may like Minnesotans but he loves Gnat and you will never separate the two. Bravo to him for it."

From Fredrick: "Brilliant idea."

From Jack: "I can offer my guest house in downtown Phoenix as the Lileks Western White House."

From Guy: "I support the Draft Lileks action. And please tell that blowhard Garrison Keillor to shut up."

From Jorge: "If he does not want to run in Minnesota perhaps we could have him in Mexico?"

From Phil: "Put me down for $500 to his official campaign committee when he announces."

From Daniel: "Having the Gnat running up and down the corridors of power could only improve things."

From Alex: "Tell him to please consider it seriously. We need people like him in Congress. I live in Florida... maybe I could arrange a few chads to dimple his way."

From Duane: "Vote for Lileks or we'll shoot this Hummel"

From Emily: "I think he would be an excellent representative of my beliefs. I am a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, so I can't contribute finacially, but I can offer my time to help."

From Cliff: "...but you can't try to take him away from Gnat and wife and the Bleat and the matchcover collecting and the rest without his ENTHUSIASTIC consent..."

From Brad: "James.................... do it for Gnat !!!"

From Diana: "Keep working this, please. Americans need him."

From Bee: "He may be doing more good where he is."

And finally, this: http://www.danielcasey.com/2004/10/bleat-from-dc-parody.htm

Well if we'd just try harder to understand them...

2004-10-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Showtime, the sister company of CBS, is mulling over a new series called "The Cell." The program would present the terrorists' side of the story.

Episodes would be told from the point of view of converts to Islam who are plotting terrorist attacks in the U.S.

"We're trying to look into the minds of these [terrorists] and the issues driving them, beyond a black-and-white portrayal," Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt told the New York Post.

The network is apparently still deciding whether to commit to a series.

The idea comes from Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff, who created the 1998 Fox drama "Brimstone."

"Popular culture was trivializing the terrorism issue in an escapist, comic-book way, and it really pissed us off," says Reiff. "You'd either see a generic Eurotrash terrorist or rogue CIA agent or an oil company conspiracy."

Voris says, "You can't deal with such a complex issue like a James Bond film." He explains, "There was a huge disconnect with what was being shown and what we wanted to deal with."

Part of a kinder, gentler American policy toward terrorism?

2004-10-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

The lileks for senate headquarters. Things can only go downhill from here.

2004-10-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

2004-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

2004-10-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Yet another view of a car very similar to my first car.

2004-10-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

The next senatorial race from Minnesota?

2006 Senate race

2004-10-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

If the 2006 elections were held today, who would you vote for to hold the office of US Senator from Minnesota?

http://p219.ezboard.com/flileksforussenatefrm3.showMessage?topicID=1.topic

So far Lileks is beating the Cantelope 81% to 18%.

The Cantelope is beating Sen Dayton 18% to 0%.

2004-10-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

King Kerry at a local town hall meeting.Thanks Duff.

2004-10-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

There's just something about your first car. At 16, I started driving in a yellow 1979 Firebird with a 4.9l V-8. I've had many over the years, but none have come close to my first.

It's up and running

2004-10-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

If you, like me, are ready for new representation for Minnesota in the US Senate, check out the movement to draft journalist and blogger James Lileks in the 2006 election.

www.lileksforsenate.com

lileksforsenate@yahoo.com

For more detail on his positions, check out HIS site at www.lileks.com

2004-10-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Thats Moorhead in the lower half of the photo and Fargo in the upper half. The wild Red river runs through the middle. This view is looking west from Moorhead.

2004-10-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, this is what it's going to look like around here pretty soon. Funny how easy it is to forget.

whoa

2004-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

A revealing -- and devastating -- look into his fundamentally misguided world view of John Kerry. Here is what we already know about how John Kerry would fight the war on terror:

During the second debate, Kerry says "I've never changed my mind about Iraq" while simultaneously claiming that Saddam Hussein "was" and "wasn't" a threat.
During the first debate, Kerry says we must pass a "global test" before taking action to defend ourselves. He later says the test applies not only globally, but "elsewhere" too.
Kerry says he will wage a "more sensitive" war on terror.
Kerry says he isn't comfortable calling the war on terror a war.
Kerry claims, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it." (Video.)
Kerry says the war on terror is more of a law enforcement than a military operation.

Back to when terrorism was a "nuisance".

2004-10-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998.

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998.

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999.

"There is no doubt that . Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001.

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (d, MI), Sept. 19, 2002.

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seing and developing weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002.

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002.

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002.

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . We also should remember we have alway s underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002,

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002.

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction. "[W]ithout question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he has continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ...
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003.

Voter Intimidation?

2004-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for the bullet to come whizzing through the living room window for having a Bush/Cheney sign in my yard. (I'm on my 3rd set, they keep getting taken.)

I've had the pleasure of experienceing a case of Kerry/Edwards road rage already.

Don't want to register?

2004-10-11T06:26:00.000-07:00

Heres the text of the last link so you don't have to subscribe unless you want to see the video.

Men videotaped vandalizing sign

Summit elections official catches culprits tearing down Bush-Cheney poster

By Marilyn Miller and Andale Gross

Beacon Journal staff writers

Two men who tore down a Bush-Cheney sign and urinated on it were caught on videotape by Summit County Republican officials early Friday morning.

The videotape shows the men sneaking into the yard of a West Market Street home and bending the sign to the ground. The men struggled to rip the sign out of the ground by shaking it and pulling it but couldn't get it off the posts, so they knocked it down. Sounds heard on the tape suggest the men urinated on the sign. They were white males, about 30 to 35 years old, well-dressed and well-groomed. They parked across the street in what police think was a foreign car, a Toyota or Honda.

The homeowner, Steve Kotsatos, who is also assistant to the director of the Summit County Board of Elections, called Akron police dispatchers at 10:38 a.m. Friday and told them about how his campaign sign was vandalized.

He said he caught the vandals on a night-vision camera he had installed the day before.

``A couple of days ago my neighbor's sign was set on fire with a blowtorch so I figured I might be next,'' Kotsatos said. ``This is not only criminal damaging but a safety hazard.''

The large 4-by-8-foot, red, white and blue sign was tipped over in Kotsatos' yard about 1 a.m. Friday.

John Kerry's name was scrawled across Bush's name in black marker on one side of the sign -- the work of previous vandals, Kotsatos said.

He discovered the bent sign at 6:45 a.m.

Police took a report of the incident and retrieved a copy of the videotape to review. No arrests have been made.

Akron police Lt. Sylvia Trundle said depending on the amount of damage -- officials estimate the sign's value at $200 to $400 -- the culprits could be charged with vandalism, but if the value is $500 or more they could face criminal damaging or criminal mischief charges. They are all misdemeanors and would carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

Local Republicans and Democrats say the stealing and damaging of campaign signs has been worse this presidential race than in past races. In some cases, the signs have been shredded and burned.

According to the Summit County Republican Party, about 3,000 of the 4,000 signs the GOP has handed out supporting Bush and Cheney have been taken from yards or damaged.

More than 1,000 signs backing Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., and running mate Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., have been taken from yards, according to the Summit County Democratic Party.

Both parties deny taking part in any sign stealing.

Even political leaders like Summit GOP Party Chairman Alex Arshinkoff and Summit Democratic Party Finance Chairman Wayne Jones have seen their signs targeted.

Officials in Medina, Wayne and Portage counties also have reported thefts of campaign signs.

Area police departments say they investigate sign theft complaints when they get them. They say it's best when a description of the vandals or their vehicle can be given.

Kotsatos said he had a Bush sign in his yard four years ago and nobody bothered it. The Republican Party is looking into a possible $1,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the men.

More on a disturbing trend...

2004-10-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

Frustration must be what they feel. That's what causes my children to act up in bizarre ways.

I don't quite understand the mindset. Whats next?

Will the Afghanistan model soon be the standard for elections in the United States?

Chew on this...

2004-10-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Grab a bottle of Leinenkugel's and chew on this for the weekend.

http://razghul.ice.org/misc/zoom/zoom.htm

You'll need shockwave installed.

Thanks Duffy, my head hurts now.

It's happened to me

2004-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

After my '83 Mercury Marquis with a Bush/Cheney sticker in the window was nearly run off the road by an SUV with a Kerry/Edwards sticker a few days ago, I'm wondering whats up with them democrats this year.

http://www.whenangrydemocratsattack.com/

I've also had both my Bush yard signs stolen, TWICE!

House Budget Panel hears info on FairTax

2004-10-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Message

FairTax finally moves in the right direction! It's exciting to see the momentum gather on the most drastic tax reform plan since the creation of the income tax.

From the FairTax e-mail alert:

www.fairtax.org

Good afternoon!

For those of you had the opportunity to watch yesterdays panel which discussed the FairTax, it was certainly an eye opener. Especially if you have never seen those kind of hearings. The last hearings were nothing like this. It was hard to get folks to take us seriously. We have come along way and that is THANKS to you!!

Congressman Linder is very pleased with how they turned out. He gathered valuable data on how the concerns would evolve as we grow even more in momentum. We can now directly address some of the concerns with the specific opponents.

It appears we still have a lack of education on our issue amongst some of the members. All of Congress is recessing on Friday. Take this opportunity to call the district offices and get a meeting set up. If you need the district office phone numbers - call Denise or Heather at 1-800-FAIRTAX #118 or #140. We will be pleased to get them for you. And packets of information to give to their offices personally.

A few of you had questions about why we had no experts other than Linder and the answer is simple. The original intent of the "hearing" was just high ended statistical data/ information on reform for congressional members but it turned into something else as the "hearings" went on.

Good info --- Excerpts From today's Tax Notes - read by many thousands of policy people, economists and DC staff:

"An October 6 House Budget Committee hearing gave several GOP lawmakers a public forum to vet their tax reform proposals, but a national sales tax bill (H.R. 25) sponsored by Rep. John Linder, R- Ga., is looking increasingly like the Republican favorite."

3 plans were actually discussed. Linder made the pitch for the FairTax, Rep. Michael C. Burgess, R-Texas, lobbied for his flat-tax proposal (H.R. 1783), and House Ways and Means Committee member Phil English, R-Pa., pushed for a hybrid of the two (H.R. 269).

Another quote from the Tax Notes: ""It's become clear in recent months that the Linder bill has more momentum than any other proposal," a GOP leadership aide told Tax Analysts. ... Democrats appeared to have no doubt which proposal Republicans would eventually back, using both of their witnesses and most of their questioning to hack at Linder's bill. " They also said "The parties sparred over the potential effects of Linder's bill, but Democrats declined to offer their own reform proposal. "I think that speaks for itself," said House Budget Committee Chair Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, also a Ways and Means member."

So, all in all, it was very successful. We are now recognized as the leading tax reform proposal in the country.

Given that, expect the attacks to accelerate and be accordingly prepared. Hopefully, after the election some of the partisanship will die down.

Study the plan - go to www.fairtax.org and read the research. Hook up with your local volunteers and lets take this to the finish line.

Thanks for all that you do - looks like there is lots more fun ahead of us. If you have not contributed lately - funds are needed to manage more research projects and get ahead in the media game. Please go to www.fairtax.org to contribute.

With great appreciation,

Genie Hayes

AFFT Communications Director

Stupid people come in all faiths and colors...

2004-10-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

No secret, I'm not the biggest fan of Islam, but this is just wrong.

Targeting peaceful Muslims in a nation that prides itself on diversity and freedom of religion, flies in the face of the spirit of our nation, the teachings of Christ, and good old Midwestern common sense. As a Christian I understand that this act not only smeared feces on the door of the mosque, it also smeared feces on Christ. "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!" That works the other way too, whatever you DO unto one of the least of these, you DO unto Me.

The perpetrators of this vandalism are no better than the mask wearing, AK47 wielding extremists on the other side of the ocean.

Come on, We're better than this in the Fargo/Moorhead area. Harsh words against extremism are one thing. Defending your nation against a group who has attacked it is one thing. Anonymously attacking peaceful people, regardless of their views, is just plain idiocy and is no better than the hate that comes from the angry Mullahs in the caves of the middle-east. You don't attack all Christians because of the KKK and you don't attack all Muslims because of Al-Quida.

I've never heard of the Fargo mosque, or any of it's members, being suspected of supporting terrorism.

It's a war on TERRORISTS idiots, not on ISLAM.

I hope they find the vandal(s), I have an award I'd like to present them with.

Many apologies to our local Islamic folk. I hope it's an isolated incident too, Mr.Fakhr.

FLATLANDER

Vandals hit Fargo mosque
By Sherri Richards,The Forum
Published Thursday, October 07, 2004

Feces was smeared on the south door of Fargo's mosque this weekend.

Whether the crime was hate-motivated is not clear.

Fargo police were dispatched to the mosque, 2102 6th Ave. S., at 7:18 a.m. Sunday when the vandalism was noticed.

It occurred sometime after 9 p.m. Saturday.

Yahya Frederickson was leaving the mosque after morning prayer when he spotted paper on the ground.

"It looked like there was feces that had been smeared on the back door and toilet paper that had been stuck in it," Frederickson said.

Cigarette butts lay on the ground, and tobacco juice had been spit on the doorknob, he said.

Frederickson said the Muslim community was more concerned about assaults after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but not recently.

About a week after 9/11, a man displayed a rifle at the mosque, but did not overtly threaten anyone.

Frederickson said he couldn't think of anything that would have spurred the recent actions, so he didn't discount the possibility of it being a prank.

Mohamed Fakhr, president of the Islamic Society of Fargo-Moorhead, said he is surprised by the vandalism.

He said the community has been supportive of area Muslims since 9/11.

"We hope it's just an isolated incident," Fakhr said.

The police officer who responded to the scene has not filed a report, according to Fargo Police Lt. Tod Dahle.

A little respect...

2004-10-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

A moment of blog silence please.

"When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them."

America, World Police

2004-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

I hate the self-important Hollywood liberal elitists, but then so do Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park.

If you haven't heard about this, you're under a rock.

Finally, a movie to piss off all those pampered freaks in the movie biz.

Alec Baldwin is the self-important leader of the Film Actors Guild (or FAG, for short) in the film. Almost every Hollywood activist has been lampooned in some way in the film.

Can't wait.

http://teamamerica.com/

Can I get an AMEN!

2004-10-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's a Global, American War on Terror
By Jack Kinsella

Although the US war on terror is ostensibly a global war with many allies, in reality, it is an American war on terror. And that is something we’d better get used to.

The mythical United Nations worshipped by the Left does not exist. The United Nations that does exist is united only in its opposition to all things Israeli, which, by definition, includes all things American.

If there is a single issue over which there is almost no division at the UN, it is the shared view that world peace will never be possible as long as Israel exists.

When an anti-Israeli resolution comes before General Assembly, the vote is always the same: the whole world votes in favor -- with the United States, Israel, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands opposed.

Our ‘closest allies’ at the UN -- according to the liberal left – include Germany, France and Russia. With allies like that, who needs enemies?

They claim to stand united with America against the terrorists -- provided the US doesn’t ask them to do anything EXCEPT stand. None of them seem particularly interested in DOING anything beyond that.

Not even the Russians. They are going after their own terrorists, but any claims of cross-cooperation are a fantasy, except in cases where it benefits Moscow.

America’s global war on terror remains America’s war, despite the very significant contributions from genuine allies like Australia, the UK, Poland and some of the former Eastern European Soviet bloc countries.

But both Tony Blair and John Howard are in deep trouble at home because of their courageous commitment to the US effort to liberate and rebuild Iraq. Both face tough re-election battles, and the central issue in each campaign revolves around Iraq and the war on terror.

On the other hand, our other alleged ‘allies’ at the UN, especially France, Germany and Russia, are not just sitting on their hands – they are actively helping terrorists and terror states procure and develop weapons of mass destruction.

As Bill Gertz explained in his book, ‘Treachery’, “intelligence reports showing French assistance to Saddam ongoing in the late winter of 2002 helped explain why France refused to deal harshly with Iraq and blocked U.S. moves at the United Nations.”

Iraq's Mirage F-1 fighter jets were made by France's Dassault Aviation. Its Gazelle attack helicopters were made by Aerospatiale, which became part of a consortium of European defense companies.

The State Department confirmed intelligence indicating the French had given support to Iraq's military.

The central figure in these weapons ties is French President Jacques Chirac. His relationship with Saddam dates to 1975, when, as prime minister, the French politician rolled out the red carpet when the Iraqi strongman visited Paris.

"I welcome you as my personal friend," Chirac told Saddam, then vice president of Iraq.

France's corrupt dealings with Saddam flourished throughout the 1990s, despite the strict arms embargo against Iraq imposed by the United Nations after the Persian Gulf War.

By 2000, France had become Iraq's largest supplier of military and dual-use equipment

In mid-March 2003, U.S. intelligence and defense officials confirmed that exporters in France had conspired with China to provide Iraq with chemicals used in making solid fuel for long-range missiles.

In April, 2003, an American A-10 Thunderbolt was shot down by Iraqi forces. The A10 was hit by a French-made Roland anti-aircraft missile. Army intelligence concluded that the French had sold the missile to the Iraqis within the past year.

A week later, a US Army team searching Iraqi weapons depots at the Baghdad airport discovered caches of French-made missiles.

One anti-aircraft missile, among a cache of 51 Roland-2s from a French-German manufacturing partnership, bore a label indicating that the batch was produced just months earlier.

Keep in mind that these weapons were being sold to Saddam Hussein’s government in violation of UN sanctions WHILE Dominique de Villepin was fighting tooth and nail at the UN to keep Saddam in power.

In May, Army intelligence found a stack of blank French passports in an Iraqi ministry. They found French-made trucks and radios as well as RPGs with French-made night sights.

A Defense Department-sponsored report produced in February identified France as one of the top three suppliers of Iraq's conventional arms, after Russia and China. The report revealed that France supplied 12 types of armaments and a total of 115,005 pieces -- while Iraq was under UN embargo.

Why would our allegedly closest allies arm our enemies – knowing those weapons will be used to kill Americans?

Because they hope we’ll lose. Even if America survives, they are hoping that it will result in a corresponding reduction of American power and influence – ending what Jacques Chirac dubbed a ‘unipolar’ world.

If al-Qaeda can successfully cripple America to the degree it is no longer the world’s only superpower, then the task of developing a counter-balance to American global influence becomes that much easier. And if a few million Americans die in the process, well, c’est la vie!

As a consequence, our alleged allies want no active role in it; unless and until they are certain that we are winning. In that case, they’ll be the first to clap us on the back and celebrate the "collective victory over world terrorism," and hope we’ll let bygones be bygones.

Well, I knew that...

2004-10-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Al-Sadr militia pumping up with drugs

By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Militiamen fighting under the banner of radical Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are pumping themselves up with drugs before confronting coalition forces, according to U.S. military reports and State Department and Iraqi sources.
Although quelled in Najaf in August, the Mahdi's Army militia is still active around southern Iraq and continues to largely control the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City — the target of repeated U.S. military air raids and tank patrols.
"They give their suicide bombers barbiturates, and the amphetamines are for street fighters who are facing off with the U.S.," a State Department analyst said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Amphetamines are addictive stimulants that induce feelings of power, but in the long run can result in violent and aggressive behavior. Barbiturates, also addictive, are used to reduce anxiety, but can cause more anxiety and hallucinations once someone is dependent on them.
Most schools of Islam believe that the prohibition of alcohol in the Koran is applicable to other mind-altering substances, including narcotics.
An Iraqi engineer, incredulous at reports of drugs being bought and sold by the militia inside Sadr City mosques, sent a member of his staff to purchase a sample.
"She brought me capsules filled with powder — heroin — that they are selling everywhere in Baghdad and financing their fight from this trade," said the engineer, who asked that his name not be used.
He said the heroin was entering the capital through the southern Iraqi cities of Amara and Basra — both Mahdi militia strongholds — from Iran.
U.S. military reports also have said that members of Sheik al-Sadr's Mahdi's Army are using a local drug similar to the mildly euphoric stimulant known as khat, which is widely used across the Arabian Peninsula.
"Reports are that a large percentage, maybe as high as 85 percent of [Mahdi's Army] fighters are using a hallucinogenic drug, Arteen, to provide courage during their attacks," according to one document focusing on the security situation in southern Iraq.
The document said the drug made the typically black-clad fighters feel bolder and less fearful. It also "makes them less predictable and looking for fights," it warned.
According to the State Department analyst, gunfights have broken out between members of the Mahdi's Army fighting over their share of the drugs.
"There was a firefight in a mosque where two factions of Sadr guys shot each other to pieces over amphetamines," the analyst said, citing eyewitness reports.
"It's big-time stuff," said the analyst, who added that the drug usage appeared limited to Iraqis — "regular guys on the street" — who had joined the cleric's militia, and were not being used by "foreign fighters" bent on destroying U.S. efforts in Iraq.
The Mahdi's Army is spread around southern Iraq, from Basra to Najaf and Sadr City in Baghdad, but it is not clear whether it is one coherent force or even whether Sheik al-Sadr has complete control over its members.
After the standoff with U.S. forces in Najaf in the summer, which ended with the country's top religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, brokering a cease-fire, militia members appear to have focused their efforts in Sadr City.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are attacked on a daily basis in the slum area by black-masked militia members wielding small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Roadside bombs are common.
During the summer, Sheik al Sadr's militia targeted military and civilian reconstruction projects throughout the south, coercing local Iraqi police to leave them alone or even to cooperate with them.
Separate military reports stated that Mahdi's Army militiamen were roaming through southern Iraq setting up ambushes, overrunning Iraqi police stations and stealing weapons, vehicles and uniforms.
In one incident, a vehicle stopped on a road from Amara to Basra was found to be carrying some 1,000 mortar rounds, several mortar tubes, 200 rocket-propelled grenades, Katusha rockets and two bags of TNT.

You may be right, you may be crazy...

2004-10-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Ripped off from American Digest:

13 ways to identify yourself as the Muslim fundamentalist

1. You will tolerate if someone says that there is no Allah, but will call for his head if he says that Mohammad is not the final prophet of that Allah.
2. You will claim that Allah is most merciful and most compassionate, but will also say those who do not believe in Allah will be roasted in the boiling oil by Allah.
3. You will claim that Allah has already decided who will be the Muslim and who will not be, but you will also claim that Allah has ordered the Muslims to convert the kafirs into Islam.
4. You will claim that Allah is omnipotent, but will also say the Allah is begging everyone to believe Him.
5. You will claim that Allah is omniscient, yet you will claim that Allah does not know what you are going to do next, since He has given you the freewill.
6. You will claim that Islam is a religion and those who critisize Islam are anti-muslim racists, but will also ask all the nations should be politically ruled by Islamic Law.
7. You will claim that Islam gives equal freedom/rights to women as well as men, but will say that women should be veiled but not men.
8. You will ask for rights for veling Muslim women in non muslim countries, but will refuse the rights of non muslim women to wear what they like in Muslim majority nations.
9. You will ridicule the myths in other religions but you will also claim that Mohammad rode a mythical horse to heaven.
10. You will always say "insha Alla" meaning all things happen due to the will of Allah, but will say all the criticism of Islam is satanic act and all the anti-Muslim acts are satanic acts.
11. You will claim that Islam is most tolerant but you will also shout all the critics of your views should be killed.
12. You will claim that Quran is without confusion, but you will also claim that your own sect is the only one that correctly understood Quran.
13. You will claim that Allah is limitless in his capacity but will also claim that Allah cannot talk to anyone after having talked to Mohammad.

-- Persian Journal

www.americandigest.org

What Kerry & the MSM don't want you to see

2004-10-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/photogallery/index.html

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/nea/iraq/

Keep an eye on the islamo-fascists

2004-10-04T06:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.jihadwatch.org/

FLATLANDER

Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poo Award

LORD HAW HAW

A like minded soul....

DNC test fires all-new Weapons of Crass Obstruction

Patriot tackles FairTax

Get the scoop

Just like the Hokey Pokey...

The wisdom of Ben

We have much to be thankfull for...

Friends of Iraq Challenge

Dragonfly for the weekend

Keep your secrets, please.

links to people who think like me

CANADA BUSY SENDING BACK BUSH-DODGERS

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

By Joe Blundo

BIZARO FLATLANDER

Wile E

Big Flaming Paper Sack of Dog Poop Award

When it's not good to be #1

Hug a Veteran

Fix it with The FairTax

Let's find some nice parting gifts for them, shall we?

Whatz up in Iraq? Get connected.

ATTENTION DEMOCRATS

OOH! OOH! I CAN HELP!!

SHOCKER! Communist utopia really a cesspool

A Tribute to Arafat

Interesting exchange

Thank YOU! South Dakota

Not ideal, but Ralphs gets a fair shake

Well, Duh!

Help us all, every one.

Divide & Conquer

My dead cat might have an opinion on that

The way we were?

Which World Military Power?

Weak on de fence, and the window, and the yard...

I'd worry about falling off the front step first.

A little huffy today

H. Thomas Hayden: Failure Is Not an Option

That's not bias, that's fact, man.

Welcome to America!

Yet MORE proof John Kerry is an idiot

Fair shake for the Fair Tax

More on Kerrys voting record

Who's with us?

No flaming bag of dog poop award for you!

More old stuff from the early 80's

Hannity in Fargo

Some things die hard

Hannity to hit Fargo/Moorhead

That'll do it.

But did he have affordable health insurance?

Lileks for Senate 06

Well if we'd just try harder to understand them...

2006 Senate race

It's up and running

whoa

Back to when terrorism was a "nuisance".

Voter Intimidation?

Don't want to register?

More on a disturbing trend...

Chew on this...

It's happened to me

House Budget Panel hears info on FairTax

Stupid people come in all faiths and colors...

A little respect...

America, World Police

Can I get an AMEN!

Well, I knew that...

You may be right, you may be crazy...

More linkage - it's a url fest today

What Kerry & the MSM don't want you to see

Keep an eye on the islamo-fascists