Extending The Tradition...

Still dark...

Comments

[kim]

And cold. Mira la Nina.
================

[GM]

FBI has a new blog system.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38913&dcn=todaysnews

[hit and run]

TM:
Still dark...

I miss you too, TM....

So many nights I sit by my window
Waiting for someone to sing me his song
So many dreams I kept deep inside me
Alone in the dark but now
You've come along

You light up my life
You give me hope
To carry on
You light up my days
and fill my nights with song

It can't be wrong
When it feels so right
'Cause You
You light up my life

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Speaking of people still in the dark, Greg Mankiw today says:

Together with Larry Summers and Doug Elmendorf, I have recently become an editor of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Our first conference will be held in the spring of 2008, and we have a blockbuster lineup. One of the papers is by Paul Krugman, who will be writing about trade and inequality. I was delighted to get Paul thinking about economics again, hoping the project might distract him from his compulsion to tell the world how much he hates Republicans. (In case you missed it, the answer is, A LOT.)

[Jane]

So Fox is reporting that Bhutto didn't die from a gunshot wound, but rather from hitting her head pulling in from sticking it out of the sunroof.

That's just unbelievable.

[Sue]

Jane,

I just heard that. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth?

[Sue]

Via http://hotair.com/archives/2007/12/28/pakistan-intercepts-show-bhuttos-murder-linked-to-al-qaeda/>Hot Air

Cheema said Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull.

[Sara]

Have you all seen Judicial Watch's Top Ten Most Corrupt List? Crazy List.

1. Hillary Clinton
2. John Conyers
3. Larry Craig
4. Diane Feinstein
5. Rudy Guiliani
6. Mike Huckabee
7. Scooter Libby
8. Barack Obama
9. Nancy Pelosi
10. Harry Reid

Now what is wrong with that list? Anyone glaringly missing from the list?

Link

[Jane]

well I'd add Mike Nifong, Elliott Spitzer, William Jefferson, and the republican senator from Alaska whose name escapes me. And I remove Libby, obviously.

[Sara]

I agree Jane, although I would also remove Larry Craig, who might have been stupid and possibly a victim of his own need, but I don't credit his problems to corruption.

Alaska - Ted Stevens?

[clarice]

What about Mollahan?

[Rick Ballard]

What about Cold Cash? It seems that I've heard some vague rumors about him.

Giuliani isn't a "Washington politician", Libby isn't an elected offical, Craig's problem isn't related to corruption, Huckabee is not a "Washington politician" (again) and the purchase of Obamessiah Hussein lacks the specific "quo" to go with the "quid" (I'm not saying there wasn't one - the Red Witch has all the details).

Really high quality work by Judicial Watch. Perhaps they should sue themselves for incompetence?

[Sara]

Shoot, I would put Joe Wilson on the list before Scooter Libby. First, I don't see what Scooter did that fits my definition of corruption, i.e., selling votes, taking or giving bribes, etc.. Joe Wilson, on the other hand, was willing to sell out his country for a job in the Kerry administration and because he got his knickers in a twist over Condi not giving him the respect his massive ego thought he was due.

[Rick Ballard]

Libby wasn't corrupt - I was referring to Judicial Watches manipulation of the headline. I've always noticed that Judicial Watch is 99.6% smoke and this is just one more example.

Stevens wouldn't make my list either - if grabbing pork is "corrupt" then Sheets Byrd would have to head any list made. Mollohan is dirty but Sheets (and Stevens) are mostly just hogs with their trotters in the trough.

[RichatUF]

John "The Pig" Murtha-should always be near the top of any corruption list.

[clarice]

Rick, that's my take on judicial watch, too.

[Sara]

Any list that does not include Murtha is not worth wrapping yesterday's garbage in.

[Sue]

Sara,

The link won't open for me but is it a list for the year 2007 or all time? Because Duke Cunningham should be on it if it is all time. I can't decide what Rudy might have done in 07 to get on the list. Unless they are referring to the scandal that wasn't a scandal with his mistress.

[Sara]

It is for 2007, Sue.

The link opens for me, but here it is in long form.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/judicial-watch-announces-list-washington-s-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2007

[Rick Ballard]

Jim Geraghty has a good piece on Iowa - and the probable aftermath. I see it about the way he does with the proviso that a strong McCain third place finish would be a blow to Thompson.

New Hampshire is truly meaningless - the next real contest is South Carolina. That's where the spin will go to warp 10.

I believe that the Odious Slattern has made a wise decision in refusing to interact with the plebes. The stilted, shopworn platitudes of her stump speech are more than they deserve. Besides, the cackle makes babies cry and strong men have been known to faint when she slips up with a real Harpy's Screech. I'm sure the Red Witch knows what she's doing - time to move on.

[Harpy]

Mr Ballard,
"Harpy's Screech" is a wholly owed trade name belonging to the Association of Professional Harpies,(APH)
The Harpy's Screech takes years of dedicated practice and may only be performed by licensed practitioners who are members of the APH.
I can assure you that the woman in question is neither licensed nor a member of our ancient profession.Whatever it is that she is doing it is not worthy of the proud name Harpy.
Try the Banshees,they will take anybody.

[Sara]

Try the Banshees,they will take anybody.

Sputter!!! Harpy owes me a new keyboard. LOL.

[Ann]

Well, I am home safe and happy after driving all day in the pouring rain from Richmond. Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas.

I think I learned a few things on this trip. My fond memories of Christmas in Richmond, are just that...memories. I always enjoyed driving through the mountains, singing Christmas songs with your family and dog, loaded down with so many presents and food that you never are comfortable. I enjoyed that part on this trip, except we landed, not in the Richmond I remembered but BDS land. I felt like Dorothy... "There's no place like home" !!

[clarice]

Welcome home, Ann. Harpy, you sound familiar.........

[Ann]

It is one thing to read about BDS and another to experience it from people you love and who are normally rational. BDS has turned these normally rational people into mean spirited crazies.
I have always tried to get along with family members at Christmas, now I think I hold it as a badge of honor if they don't like me for my moral and political views.

I don't like what I see and I fear that this country is in for real trouble if we are attacted again.

On a lighter note, you will all find it amusing that my last days in OZ consisted of someone giving my dog phenobarbital instead of the dog who really has seizures, and the fact that i couldn't take a shower for three days because the hot water heater broke.
Like I said: "There's no place like home"!! :) :)

[Topsecretk9]

not making future voters - seems soldiers don't like the demacrats paticular demeaning, arrogant non-support, support

Marine Corps Cpl. David Goldich, a University of Virginia graduate who spent two tours of duty in Iraq, says Democratic attacks on the war undermined troop morale.

Cpl. Goldich, who returned from Anbar province in November after about 300 combat patrols, stated in a candid account that negative comments by Democrats had "a dramatic effect on morale, especially on troops who are otherwise indifferent and disdainful of politics in general."

"I cannot tell you how many times I have overheard Marines and soldiers talking about various inconsiderate comments made from the likes of [Sen.] John Kerry [Massachusetts Democrat], [Rep. John P.] Murtha [Pennsylvania Democrat], [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [Nevada Democrat], and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [California Democrat] about how we cannot win, how we should be brought home, etc.," he said.

"The Kerry comments really cemented his reputation with the troops and upset people more than anything else. It is unnerving to volunteer for service during wartime hoping to be deployed and having to listen to a politician explain how the troops need to come home, especially when we clearly have not finished what we started.

"There is a widespread perception amongst the Marines I know, even those uninterested in politics, that the Democratic Party does not want us to win in Iraq for whatever reason.This is true even amongst Democrats who still maintain the party viewpoint on almost every other issue but the war. Morale is always a tricky issue to deal with, and it is difficult to tell a Marine to buck up when he sees important people back home undercutting his primary reason for existing at the moment."

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/NATION04/918099949/1008&template=nextpage

[clarice]

SO Kerry has won the love of two generations of military men and women. What a guy!

[Harpy]

Possibly Ms Clarice,a bit before your time,but we have been around since Phineas was a boy.

[clarice]

Well, harpy, this news bit should frost your talons:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=504992&in_page_id=1770>boys games

And to think it somes a day after the UK Education Ministry urged more boys to take netball and dance instead of cricket and wrestling and football to even out the numbers in the phy ed classes.

[Harpy]

Thank you Ms Clarice,if you want a job,we are looking for a talon scout.

[Neo]

JustOneMinute TIME 2006 Man of the Year

Hey .. me too.

[Other Tom]

Can we spot a common thread among those who now personify the CIA? I'm talking Plame, Michael Scheuer, Imbecile Larry and Richard Clarke.

Isn't it apparent that each and every one is a certified loser? (And I haven't even raised the issue of the oaf Tenet.) What's up with those folks?

My candidate for the weirdest of the bunch is Scheuer. Has anybody else noticed his eerie, catamite-like use of the word "sir" at the end of every empty pronouncement?

[clarice]

Maybe you have to fail an intelligence test to get in,OT.

[Sue]

OT,

I was thinking about that. The only faces of the CIA I've seen do not lend me to feel good about our protection. They are imbeciles. Hopefully, the ones we don't see have more sense than the ones we do. Hopefully. Personally, if I was CIA, I would do everything in my power to shut the ones up that are putting a face on the CIA.

[Ann]

Sue,

Just have to tell you that you kept me laughing through the holidays with the: "I tossed my mother-in-law out on her behind comments". Thanks for that, I didn't feel like such a villian in my Christmas sister-in-law thoughts.

Also, your comments on the "Lone Survivor" book, I agree on and cried too. Hooya to you.

[Sue]

Ann,

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was feeling pretty good about myself at the time. Not so much now. I kicked a 78 year old woman out of my house on Christmas Day. I told you she has ways of getting even. Even if it is my own conscience that does it for her. ::grin::

You have to read the book. If they do make a movie about it, it won't do it justice.

[bubarooni]

Other Tom:

I have the 'Sir' thing all figured out. Scheur watches Olberman. Olby does that all the time.

Ummmm, at least that's what I've been told...

Yeah, that's it!

[Ann]

Sue,

I did read the book and cried at the fact they made their fatal decision on our media.!!

That is when I cried and I realized how effective our media is still on our military, our families, and on the people that vote in this country.

Why do you think I have never said anything to my sister-in-laws, it is to get along.. at what cost? I have realized that not saying anything has made them stronger. You are just suppose to sit there and take it for the family. Well, they are
winning and I am not going to be silent for peace anymore.

[Sue]

Sue,

I did read the book and cried at the fact they made their fatal decision on our media.!!

Which is why I never want our military going to war again. I am became ant-war, except for supporting the 2 that are ongoing, when the democrats took over in 06. I will never again support a war that we are not in it to win. Stop killing our troops with PC crap. In fact, if Congress doesn't declare war I will not support it. Let them do their constitutional duty. Stupid asses. That is what we have in Washington. Almost to the last one of them.

[SunnyDay]

Did you see the latest? They dropped a little tidbit for the lawyers into the Defense Funding bill - so they can sabotage Iraq reconstruction.

[cathyf]

the likes of [Sen.] John Kerry [Massachusetts Democrat], [Rep. John P.] Murtha [Pennsylvania Democrat], [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [Nevada Democrat], and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [California Democrat]

Did anyone notice something about this list of Cpl. Goldich's? Ok, let me take out the helpful explanatory insertions that the editor put in:

John Kerry, Murtha, Reid, and Pelosi

One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn't belong...

(Sorry, just cracked me up the notion that "everybody" would know who Murtha, Reid, and Pelosi are, but if he didn't give a first name he expected people would be saying "Kerry who?")

[Elliott]

Off topic: Inspired by his performance in recent days, I submit "Hokumbee" for your consideration as a nickname for Huck the imagined Reagan.

[kim]

I claim Harpelosi. Do I get my talon scout merit badge?
============

[kim]

Huck the Magic Candidate,
Lived by the Press.
He frolicked in their headlines,
And smiled his great big Yes!

But yet, one froggy day
Huck came out to play.
The journos wiped their lips en masse.
"No Prince, just naked ass!"
================

[hit and run]

From the Politico, via the Corner:

In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team. On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.”

At a Thursday evening press conference, Huckabee said, "I've corresponded with John Bolton, who's agreed to work with us on developing foreign policy.”

Bolton, however, has a different view. “I’d be happy to speak with Huckabee, but I haven’t spoken with him yet,” said Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.

First it was Frank Gaffney, who when Huck's Foreign Affairs essay came out, called it "cockamamie". Now it is Bolton, who claims he has never even spoken with the man.

Man? That term is very loosely used.

[centralcal]

I don't want Huckabee to get the nomination. I think he is a huckster deluxe. However, it is getting painful to read/watch/listen to him shoot himself in the foot (and other places) almost hourly.

I cannot even imagine what a disaster his appearance with Big Tim on Meet the Press is going to be this Sunday! I just hope his followers in Iowa start paying attention to how seriously deficient this guy is before they caucus!

[centralcal]

Also, Fred will be on with Wallace, Sunday too. Novak pretty much wrote his obit today in reporting on Iowa polling.

The press is abandoning Huck and returning to their favorite, McCain. They are really scrambling to control things on our side. I am beginning to feel like I am a member of the "lemming" party.

[RichatUF]

SunnyDay-

They dropped a little tidbit for the lawyers into the Defense Funding bill - so they can sabotage Iraq reconstruction.

I read about that-Lautenburg dropped it in during conference, which would have exposed the current government in Iraq to liability for terrorist activity of the Saddam regime. We can thank the Clinton Administration for this bit as well {the way they wrote the $26 million payment to Brothers to the Rescue members that were killed when Castro downed their planes was overly broad} [not that I am opposed to a legal strategy of tieing up Islamist fronts, but we aren't having much success on that front]

[RichatUF]

And the great thing about the Lautenburg language-I thought that Saddam wasn't tied to terrorism and that "he was our best ally in fighting OBL and al Qeada" [according to M. Scheuer]

Leave it to the democrats to use a little bit of turnspeak to affect their goal of losing in Iraq and to Islamism everywhere.

[RichatUF]

centralcal-

The press is abandoning Huck and returning to their favorite, McCain. They are really scrambling to control things on our side. I am beginning to feel like I am a member of the "lemming" party.

Me too. I'm waiting for the "Republicans are all racists" campaign with Ron Paul as exhibit A through Z-which would very effective if Il Jong Hussein is the Odious Slattern's VP.

Did McCain get that NYT story spiked about some telecom lobbyists or did it leak out in drips?

[SunnyDay]

re Huckabee and Bolton - is Huckabee is an outright liar, or trying to manipulate Bolton? - big big mistake. Is anyone making an issue out of this "misstatement?" I guess it's not that important. :/

[SunnyDay]

And the great thing about the Lautenburg language-I thought that Saddam wasn't tied to terrorism and that "he was our best ally in fighting OBL and al Qeada" [according to M. Scheuer]

****************

I caught that bit of irony. Are we the only ones who see it?

The dead giveaway is that it permits a lien on all assetts up to the amount of the claim - just file, and the Iraqi assetts are frozen.

[Rick Ballard]

"is Huckabee is an outright liar"

Why, yes, yes, he is an outright liar. A fraud, too. Jimmy Carter writ small.

He's been pretty well pumped and pimped by the DeMSM but it ain't gonna work - they'll turn back to the nutter after Iowa and we'll suffer through the witless wisdom of McCain until South Carolina.

The Ronulans are the ones to watch though. I really want to comb the next set of contribution records to see how much moveon money has been dumped on him in the hope of generating another Perot. He's Clinton's only hope.

[RichatUF]

SunnyDay-

The democrats will do I think just about anything to snatch defeat-have there allies write up a NIE saying Iran isn't working to build nuclear weapons and set aside Musharraf to bring in some tranzis all of whom turned a blind eye to the rot in Pakistan in the 1990's.

I'm not a Pakistan watcher but wow, the little bit I have read really shows the odious and self-indulgent relationship we have had with them for the last some 35 years. And both Clinton and Obama want to bring in the exact same people that have brought us to this point-and they are both campaiging on a platform of change. Hell-

[centralcal]

SunnyDay: "Is anyone making an issue out of this "misstatement?"

I come back to Russert on Sunday. I expect Huckabee to be sliced, diced, and sauteed in his own broth. What that will mean in Iowa is anyone's guess.

Rick: "The Ronulans are the ones to watch though. I really want to comb the next set of contribution records to see how much moveon money has been dumped on him in the hope of generating another Perot."

I have been suspicious about the money from the get go. Ronulan supporters run quite the gamut of fringe-ies. Not the sort of supporters who you would think have tons of money.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I really want to comb the next set of contribution records to see how much moveon money has been dumped on him in the hope of generating another Perot. He's Clinton's only hope.

A Paul 3rd party run financed by Soros? Let me fire up Photoshop. IIRC, Paul only got 400k the last time he ran as a 3rd party candidate and he probably wouldn't play too well in Florida [or OH, MO, PA, WA] to make a difference. Brush up on election law and cases-2008 is going to make 2000 look competent.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

One Clinton strategy is dependent upon AZ, CO and NM offsetting OH - even without the Ronulans. If the Ronulans can strip 5-6% from the Republicans, then AZ, AR, VA, MO, FL, CO, OH, NV, IA and NM are all in play (some of them are in play anyway).

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

One Clinton strategy is dependent upon AZ, CO and NM offsetting OH - even without the Ronulans. If the Ronulans can strip 5-6% from the Republicans, then AZ, AR, VA, MO, FL, CO, OH, NV, IA and NM are all in play (some of them are in play anyway).

[RichatUF]

Rick-

One Clinton strategy is dependent upon AZ, CO and NM offsetting OH - even without the Ronulans. If the Ronulans can strip 5-6% from the Republicans, then AZ, AR, VA, MO, FL, CO, OH, NV, IA and NM are all in play (some of them are in play anyway)

Interesting-did you get that from somewhere or did you piece that together yourself. Very good stuff. If AZ, CO, NM is the strategy I would think that a Hegal-"Dobbs" 3rd Party strategy would be more effective...at this point bloggers [LGF especially] has so much stuff dug up from the kook fringe on Paul he'd be radioactive for all but the most diehard ultra-minimum statists. But then again "libertarians" are a strange lot.

[RichatUF]

just thought about this-

...the strategy I would think that a Hegal-"Dobbs" 3rd Party strategy...

The one thing that the CLinton's can't do is subtle. A nakedly political 3rd party run would be Hagel-Clark running in that list of states funded generously by 527's and 504's...

[kim]

I've thought the Ron Paul campaign is Deaniacs, but only because I'm certain it is some false flag or another. It's also a natural thrid party which will siphon legitimate libertarians, of which more are Republican voting than are Democratic voting.
==============

[kim]

At first I thought you wrote that libertarians are a 'savage lot', Rich, and I was exploring that they are really more simple, or 'wild', than savage. And then I reread your comment; so much for that thought.
===============

[RichatUF]

kim-

...that libertarians are a 'savage lot'...

That works as well...Ron Paul the Savage fully exposed to the World State. I wonder if he is planning any trips through some university campuses any time soon, ought to be fun.

[Rick Ballard]

"or did you piece that together yourself"

I was watching the Emily's List money flowing to second raters in several districts in all three states. In particular, AZ-1, AZ-5, AZ-8, NM-1, CO-3, CO-4 and CO-7.

It seemed rather peculiar - unless it was going to build up an org for Clinton. Which it was.

[Other Tom]

If the libertarians hadn't run that guy in the Senate race in Montana, the GOP would still have the majority in the Senate. Not that it matters...

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I'm building some data tables using your long list and thinking about breaking out the AZ+CO+NM=OH numbers. The only thing that jumps out at me to sway those numbers to the democrat camp (or a 3rd party camp) would be nuclear power and water. AZ-1 is a large swath of the north and east of the state, CO-3&4 look to cover the east and west flanks, and NM-1 is Albquerque Metro. I wouldn't think that there would be swaths of "soccer-mom suburbia" that wouldn't already be tapped. Curious

[Sara]

I don't mean this in a negative sense, but aren't Albuquerque and Santa Fe mostly gays and left over hippies ?

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

You have to do an analysis of the Hispanic component within the districts (and state) and toss Richardson into the equation.

I don't think that "soccer mom" works as a descriptor this time around. The fears of the '90's "soccer moms" had a component of care for close to indigent parents that is no longer operative due to changes for the better in material circumstances for those over 65.

It just ain't the same river.

The element that I find a bit worrisome is the decrease in demonstrated ability regarding simple logic that is becoming apparent in the third and fourth income quintiles (the ignorance of the first and second quintiles remains relatively fixed).

The NEA has done an excellent job in dumbing down the cattle to the point where they aren't even wondering why no one comes back from "that big building". They must think that it's a "better place" because...., well, because people are just good - like nature!

[Rick Ballard]

Comparison of Hispanic component - 2000 - 2006

AZ 25.3%/29.2%
NM 42.1%/44.0%
CO 17.1%/19.7%

Phoenix (AZ-5) 34.1%/41.2% (which finished off JD Hayworth)

Albuquerque (NM-1) 39.9%/43.9% (almost, but not quite enough to finish off Heather Wilson)

Immigration isn't playing out exactly the way the Pew foundation had hoped but the Richardson ploy is still operable.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

...It just ain't the same river....

Very true. Right now I'm taking state data for 88, 92, 96, 00, and 04. The second level will be Hispanic and American Indian patterns at the selected states if I can dig up those numbers. Remember the rule: think of an ass and remember your liberal cant.

Just a quick impression-I don't see an Emily's List agenda playing well with a more conservative Catholic Hispanic population, even taking into consideration a heavy dose of liberation theology. Barone wrote about this before, 2004 I think.

[RichatUF]

damn

[RichatUF]

Even more curious. Those names have the CREW smell on them. I had to look up Hayworth-seemed he got caught up with Abramoff and I remember something or other where Wilson's name was circulating.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

I agree with your assessment but the Dem ploy is/was to use immigration (plus Richardson) as the "wedge" to swing Hispanics over. I believe that both Bush and McCain read tough immigration law as being too politically dangerous to play with.

I dunno if they're right or wrong regarding the politics but I believe that both sides are misreading "Hispanics". There just isn't much "us v them" to work with until you get out to the 5-7% Atzlander fringe. Otherwise, they're "us" and we're "them" at close to Irish or Italian descendance rates.

I wonder if B16 could be convinced to send a few exorcists to work on the Red Witch and Hussein? That might be helpful.

You're right about the CREW stink - Renzi won by the skin of his teeth because of a corruption taint but I don't recall Hayworth being hurt in that regard. Hayworth was a little too much in love with the sound of his own voice - sorta like B-1 Bob Dornan or Bob Barr. They all talked so much that finding something dumb to hang them with was just too easy.

[Rick Ballard]

Interestingly incomprehensible new ARG poll. Broom I in descent but it's Silky Pony on the rise (Hussein, too, but Silky did better). Meanwhile - the Huckster hangs on but ROMNEY SURGES 11 POINTS - drawn from McCain and Giuliani.

I need to rent a dart board to analyze this one.

[clarice]

Rick, I think most of the support for any of the candidates is still soft ....the voters are still just not so into this.

[clarice]

We've just agreed to waive any tariffs on Mexican sugar--one way around the sugar price supports. Does this mean real coke will taste like it should again? Will coke return to its original formula and drop fructose?(Now the only way to get it is to get it from Mexico or in Kosher for Passover bottles.) Will the little green bottles follow close behind?

[Sara]

Speaking of sugar, isn't this special?

Army finds explosive chemicals in EU aid bags

6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked as sugar from the European Union for needy Palestinians in Gaza. EU declines comment

Israel said on Saturday it had recently seized a truck carrying chemicals used to make explosives hidden in bags marked as EU aid for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The army said 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate were in bags marked as sugar from the European Union for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

EU officials in Jerusalem had no immediate comment.

The cargo in a Palestinian truck was traveling in the occupied West Bank and seized several weeks ago at an Israeli checkpoint, the army said.

The EU is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Israel tightened its military and economic cordon of the Gaza Strip after Islamist Hamas seized the territory in a June war with secular Fatah.

[Sara]

Speaking of sugar, isn't this special?

Army finds explosive chemicals in EU aid bags

6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked as sugar from the European Union for needy Palestinians in Gaza. EU declines comment

Israel said on Saturday it had recently seized a truck carrying chemicals used to make explosives hidden in bags marked as EU aid for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The army said 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate were in bags marked as sugar from the European Union for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.





EU officials in Jerusalem had no immediate comment.

The cargo in a Palestinian truck was traveling in the occupied West Bank and seized several weeks ago at an Israeli checkpoint, the army said.

The EU is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Israel tightened its military and economic cordon of the Gaza Strip after Islamist Hamas seized the territory in a June war with secular Fatah.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

Taking a break from the numbers. Finding state level data broken out by ethnicity is proving more time-consuming than I thought.

The D's are in a tough bind if their immigration plank boils down to "mend it, don't end it" [so much for change and experience] and a bit of tokenism in Richardson. They do have to protect their left flank and blacks vote 8 to 1 for D's-if they were to stay home in 08, Hispanic participation wouldn't make up the difference, even taking into consideration regional differences in population. I could almost see the Red Witch saying one thing to a AZ, CO, NM audience and the complete opposite to an OH audience and an almost competent R campaign to almost exploit the difference.

[PeterUK]

"6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked as sugar from the European Union for needy Palestinians in Gaza. EU declines comment"

That is a most positive indication,they are going to reopen the greenhouses. Unless of course, they have access to sugar supplies.

[clarice]

What are the odds that the Israelis got tipped off--that this wasn't a chance finding and that they waited as this scam continued until they got the EU drecks good and red handed?

[Sara]

Oy vey!

Son to be named successor...

A senior official of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) told TIME late Saturday that the slain former prime minister's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will likely be named as her political heir and the new party leader on Sunday. PPP members are due to meet to discuss the party's future and to give Bilawal, a student at Oxford, a chance to read his mother's last will and testament.

More at link.

[Rick Ballard]

Bilawal might want to check on how that "family business" model worked for Rajiv Gandhi.

[Sara]

His grandfather, who I believe was hung for massive corruption, is one of his role models.

[Sara]

I guess it was more than corruption. He was convicted of authorizing the murder of one of his political opponents.

Some role model.

[clarice]

I find this a hardly surprising development. How better to let the party faithful know their percentage of the take will remain constant?

[Rick Ballard]

Did the story mention whether he knew Joe Kennedy very well?

[PeterUK]

Christopher Hitchen's take on Benazir Bhutto,

[Other Tom]

Sara, I think a bunch uv'em over there in Santa Fe is playin' on the pink team.

If I were Benzir's son and Zulfikar's gandson I might be contemplating a name change and a career in dentistry.

[glasater]

A lengthy article by John Burns provides some great background on Bhutto.

[clarice]

Assad tried a career in opthamology and still couldn't abandon the family business,OT.

[Rick Ballard]

Glasater,

Nice article, even at a distance of nine years - did you note "Cotecna", employer of kleptocrat Kofi's thieving son (there's one who didn't fall far from the tree)? Let us not forget dear Jacques Chirac when reading about the Dassault bribes. They would not have been made without his knowledge and acquiesance.

The utter filth of the tranzis is truly incredible - as is their grip on our CIA and State Department. Wolfowitz is as lucky to be away from the scum at the World Bank as Bolton is to be away from the scum at the UN.

Perhaps the Red Witch was closer to Bhutto than we know? After all, they did share a common world view.

[PeterUK]

"Perhaps the Red Witch was closer to Bhutto than we know? After all, they did share a common world view."
Obviously not close enough.

[glasater]

Rick--I did spot the Cotecna reference and figured an eagle eye would pick up on it.

Tracked down this John Bolton speech from last November that was pretty interesting.

[narciso]

Of course, Chirac knew about the Dassault bribes they were the family business; his
father was s Vp (according to Timmerman).
Bhutto seemed, well we know now she was
reckless but compared to Musharaff, Sharif,
Imran Khan, and a few others; was still a pretty good choice. It's a little disturbing
that the 'bell being dropped roundMusharaf's
neck' comes from Mark Siegel. Siegel, the old Mondale era hack, was part of the duo of democratic lobbyists for Pakistan, along
with Lanny Davis; who were lobbying for those F-16 to carry missiles and other devices from Kahuta eastward toward India.
They were a tag team, with Siegel representing Bhutto's interests, while Davis representing the 'transitional regime'
of Supreme Court chief Leghari; he was of course, a figurehead for the ISI and the Army but that was the whole point. As I may have mentioned before, Pakistani political chieftains have at most an 8 year span in office; Ayub followed by Yahya Kan, Bhutto rather unceremoniously by Zia, Zia by Bhutto, Leghari than Sharif, Musharaff and now Kiyani. Liat Khan, seems to have had 'the shortest career since that Pope that got poisoned" as the line from Wall Street goes. Much like that brief boomlet
for the man on horseback, Ayad Allawi, brokered through Haley Barbour's lobbying
establishment shows; we have a very narrow
view of what constitutes political
popularity in the Third World.Surprisingly, Peter Galbraith, the son of the 'great economics sage' that Krugman aspires to being; hasn't surfaced in this last nostalgia bout. His ill premised book; The End of Iraq, probably has something to do with it.

Effective politicos in the Third World we don't really grasp or want to ignore. Take the case of Ahmed Chalabi. The subject of is it the five year hate, I forget. Blamed
for being responsible for the Iraq invasion
as head of the INC; disowned by his chief
former associates in the Pentagon; accused
of nearly a blood libel, being either an Iranian agent of influence, or a dupe who facilitated the loss of recentlyintercepted Iranian codes (yes the same codes that prove the latest NIE draft, don't confuse us with consistency) in fact, made the accessory to a murder in a lesser known roman 'a clef by Haig fils. He continues to bounce back, rising to top leadership posts, briefly serving as oil minister, and
surge coordinator. Very much the function of Nuri al Said; the last very cooperative
Iraqi politician with the West; without having the bullseye on his back or more properly his neck that O'l Nuri would eventually be strangled by in '58. Yet Allawi has the ear of Ignatius, Hoagland
(the Post's chief Chalabi confidante and others) That plus the backing of some Mi-6
agents, won't get you a cup of Coffee in Iraq. Well the Muthanna Brigade, that clique of 'rehabilitated' Baathists have some influence; vis a vis the Badrists at the Interior Ministry and Sadrists at the
Health Ministry. A good deal of the turmoil
:in re leadership troubles had to do with a stalemate with State favoring the youngest
of the Pachachi clan; the UAE exileBaathist former wunderkind foreign minister, whose star turn was proposing UN Res. 242; to salvage the shellacking the Arabs had suffered in '67. The CIA favored with perfect pitch: Adnan Al Khazraji, Saddam's former Chemical Corps Army chief. Fate prevented that turn of events.Defense favored Chalabi and the exiles, then Bremer favored himself; and the whole thing went to hell. well heck anyways. Negroponte then took the ball from there, moving onwards diagonally on to the DNI and Ass. Secretary of State; faster than Haig did in Nixon's army.

[clarice]

Very true about Chalabi,narciso. And if you asked most people all they remember of him are lies (i.e. responsible for Curveball and spied for Iran). Utter nonsense, but it shows how wonderful it is to have a pipeline to the WaPo and press bien pensants when you're peddling crap.

[vnjagvet]

Narciso, do you think that Petraeus has a handle on all of this intrigue? It seems to me that as in WWII, half the battle is keeping the "allies" working towards the same objectives. Like Ike, Petraeus has so far exhibited great political skill as well as the necessary command presence to achieve measurable results.

The thing I have been impressed with is his ability to set objectives way ahead of time and meet them. Acountability for and achievement results is what separates him from his predecessors.

[vnjagvet]

"achievement of results"

[glasater]

Well-yeah Narcisco--but when Switzerland gets it's tail in a knot over money--something is haywire somewhere.

[narciso]

Petraeus, like Ike, seems to be vey much on
point. He not only has the right view on counterinsurgency, but is putting his imprint on the next generation of staff officers. Mysteriously,H.R. McMaster and Pete Mansoor. two of his top aides, the Bedell Smith and Bradley to continue the analogy; don't seem to be aren't moving up enough; which is a shame.

One is reminded that in the other theatre of operations; Afghanistan and its sibling
provinces in Pakistan; former Newsweek contact and apparent planner of the Bhutto
hit; is the most important beneficiary of the 'Gitmo as Dachau' legal strategy referenced by Deborah Burlingame, he was an early release from Gitmo, 'a miscarriage of
justice' surely.

Of course, we can't fully appreciate the delusion of Western media in regards to the
campaigns in the former Mesopotamia; without
an offering from the NYRB's Michael Massing: which lauds the operations of the
Baghdad McClatchy bureau*<http://www.nybooks
com/articles/20934> particularly the Saudi raised chief; Leila Fadel, and the American soldier deriding correspondent Issa Salah.