A Modest Proposal For San Francisco

My friend Bookworm, who lives in Marin County in the San Francisco Bay area recently recounted a plan by the City of San Francisco to spend $40 - $50 million of the tax payer's money to alter the famed Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides from jumping off the bridge.

As she points out, aside from the expense (the City's budget, like most California municipalities is a cause for concern) the proposed changes will significantly alter the look of this magnificent landmark and obstruct much of the wonderful view from the bridge for the thousands of people who drive or walk across it each year.

Having done both myself numerous times, I can personally attest to what an exhilarating experience it is...but what to do about the Bridge as a suicide magnet?

So, as a friendly gesture to my former stomping grounds, I feel compelled to offer a modest suggestion to assist in solving this dilemma.

Let's face it. Anyone with a jones to voluntarily off themselves can find numerous ways to do it if a swan dive off the Bridge isn't available anymore, and they're almost impossible to stop if they really are determined to go through with it. The TransAmerica Pyramid, Coit Tower or any number of buildings on Montgomery Street in the Financial District would make a superb substitute for the Big Leap, if a little messier to clean up. And there's always the usual recourses...the sleeping pills, the razor blades, a bullet to the brain....

So destroying the look and view from the bridge not only doesn't prevent suicide but destroys a part of the value of something that actually helps bring money into San Francisco as a tourist attraction.

And therein lies the solution, of course. Where the inept politicians that rule Gommorah-by-the-Bay see a problem, I see an opportunity.

Rather than attempt to stop those picturesque dives into the unknown, the City should immediately make a part of the Bridge a designated suicide area.

Not only will it save the taxpayers $40 or $50 million the City doesn't have but it would actually earn money, bring revenue into the City and increase the Bridge's value as a tourist attraction.

Just think of how much money is generated by those ferry trips and tours to Alcatraz. How much money do you think tourists would pay to watch somebody do a half gainer into the Bay from the famous Golden Gate Bridge?

And what about those helicopter flights over the Bay? Think of the surcharge for a close in hover over Swan Dive Alley!

And that's not even counting the merchandising money from tee shirts, mugs and refrigerator magnets.

Now, I hear the law n' order types among you mumbling as I write this 'but suicide is a crime..San Francisco can't be seen to encourage criminal activity.'

Oh re-eeally! A major sanctuary city for illegal aliens that issued same sex marriage licenses when it was against California state law and is in defiance of the US government's Soloman Amendment all of a sudden can't be seen to be abetting lawbreaking?

The laws against suicide are a wheeze anyway.If the perpetrator is successful there's nobody to prosecute and if they're not, no one is going to put them in jail..the worse that happens is usually a nice stay in a pleasant, tree-lined sanitarium for a while.

So I see this as a golden, innovative opportunity. Any city courageous and cutting edge enough to put a measure on the ballot naming a sewage processing plant after a sitting president with only 6 months left in office should have no problem jumping on this (no pun intended) whatsoever.

You're welcome, San Francisco. A small bronze plaque somewhere would be nice as a thank you, maybe outside of Tosca's or the lobby of the Phoenix Hotel if it's still there..just not on a sewage plant, if you don't mind.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 7/22/08

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. As you know, our infamous leader,the Watcher of Weasels retired and is now our leader emeritus. Last week, I hosted the Council here. This week, the Council is being hosted by none other than my pal Soccer Dad and a full list of entries can be found there.

Do take the time to check out the non-Council links available at the Watcher's site as well - they're always worthwhile.

COUNCIL NEWS: This communal hosting should come to an end within the next week or so. The members convened and are finishing up the final details of whom our new leader will be and where the Council will be hosted, and a brand new and exciting chapter in the saga of the Watcher's Council will begin shortly. The members have done superb work in coming to a consensus and doing the necessary work to support each other in making this happen. More updates shortly.

So here's this week's Council lineup...enjoy!

JoshuaPundit - Why Maliki Suddenly Wants A US Withdrawal From Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his national security advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie made headlines recently by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq. This represents a 180 degree reversal in position from the earlier agreements between the Iraqi governbment and the Bush Administration back in February, and I think there's more here than meets the eye...

Wolf Howling - Deconstructing the Socialists War On Law & Order In Britain - GW has a long and erudite post on how the Labour Party's multicultural approach has affected public safety and crime in the UK.

Done with Mirrors - Who knew? - Callimachus has an unbelievably wicked post this week on public perceptions versus facts. As an example, he contrasts the public posturing today as prescient sages by senators who voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 with their actual words in the Senate chambers at that time.

As Cal reveals, virtually all of them agreed that Saddam had WMDs and that he was actively pursuing nuclear weapons. Which makes their decisions to vote against the bill while recognizing that even more questionable. Amazing.

The Glittering Eye - "Vice President Gores 'Space Race' Energy Plan (Updated)" - Dave Schuler fisks Al Gore's grandiose plan for a “space race” effort for the U. S. to produce 100% of its electricity using carbon-free means in the next decade. As he correctly points out, the problems involved are completely different.

Bookworm Room - The moral of the story - is exactly what Ms. Bookworm feels made a great deal of classic literature so great, and modern attempts to 're-make' tales like Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice to exclude the obvious moral lessons so shallow. I think she's on to something here.

Rhymes with Right - Dems Email Hillary Supporters: We Own You -- Now Support Barack! - Greg focuses on an e-mail by the DNC castigating Democrat supporters of Ms. Clinton to shut up, quit whining and get back on the plantation.

While I agree with him that this was fairly arrogant and heavy handed, it's also simple politics and to be expected. We'll see how this plays out as the campaign unfolds.

Cheat Seeking Missiles - Obama in Berlin: Wrong City, Wrong Time - The Chosen One decided to reach for additional gravitas by emulating Reagan and Kennedy by speaking in Berlin. Laer tends to agree with Tony Campbell that a more impressive and meaningful choice would have been Mecca, given our modern adversaries.

Of course, if Obama was really being truthful with us, his speech in Berlin would have started out by saying 'Ich bin ein beginner!'

Colossus of Rhodey - Yet another rant - Ah. golf...remember Hube, whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad. And that's why the game was invented...

Hillbilly White Trash - Can America "Get it back?" - Lemuel wonders whether America can get its groove back and appears pessimistic about it.

The Razor - Speak truth to power - just not to educators - Scott recounts the tale of a child in his native Delaware essentially denied access to public schools because of racially tinged bullying. Like the parent of the child in question, he plans to move in the near future to escape dysfunctional public schools.

Soccer Dad - Horribly Wrong Part II - Our host Soccer Dad writes about an absolutely disgusting piece by McClatchy Middle East correspondent Dion Nissenbaum whitewashing child murderer and terrorist Samir Kuntar, who was the major part of the idiotic live-terrorists-for dead-bodies swap between Israel and Hezbollah.

It still astounds me (although it shouldn't at this point) that all the Arabs need do is allege or state something to attempt to defend or rationalize the most horrific crimes for it to be repeated by the dinosaur media as an equal 'fact' and part of a 'balanced narrative', no matter what the objective truth of the matter is.

Sleepwalking Towards The Apocalypse

A huge deal was made over the West's 'sweetened' offer to Iran to halt it's headlong rush to obtain nuclear weapons.

The Iranians were offered the right to peaceful nuclear energy and the right to have reactors, even though they forfeited those rights when the U.N. found Iran to be in material breach of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty it signed.

They were offered an end to sanctions and considerable trade and financial incentives and president Bush even offered to negotiate directly with Iran and freeze all sanctions provided they agreed to a temporary freeze of all nuclear activity while the negotiations were going on.

So..what was the Mullah's response? Well, essentially this:



What Iran sent back to the UN 5 plus one - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany- was what the Iranians playfully described as a "none paper" which was their way of referring to the usual diplospeak for an unofficial negotiating document or “nonpaper.”

It was so blatantly a scam and a dodge that even Sergei Kisliak, the Russian deputy foreign minister, couldn't help chuckling when he read it - those wild and crazy Persians! Good cash customers though...

The Iranians reportedly didn't even offer any concrete responses to the West's proposals. Instead, they proposed more talks and negotiations about talks.

“The paper calls for a huge exercise in talking,” one senior European official was quoted as saying. “If you were to try to implement it, it would take a minimum of several years.”

Which would suit the Mullahs just fine, of course.

What they proposed was at least three more meetings with Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief,plus at least four meetings at the foreign ministers’ level, provided all sanctions were halted against Iran.

They also want no discussion or even mention of any limits on Iran’s production of enriched uranium.

Iran also wants their nuclear issues to be dealt with by Mohammed El Baradi and the IAEA,not the UN Security Council, which tells you a lot about El Baradi.

So that was the result of yet another craven offer by the UN and Condi Rice. The Mullahs essentially put out a document that ranged between putting the Big Six on and telling them to get bent.

Even worse the Mullahs know they're on pretty solid ground.

The first reaction from the EU after this blatant insult? It no uncertain terms,the European Union says it won't support military action against Iran. Instead,they're open to more 'talks' just like this.

So, apparently,are two of Obama's chief foreign policy advisors, Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, ex NSA adviser to President Jimmy Carter:

Brzezinski said he fears that if negotiations break down between now and the end of the year, some in the Bush administration might believe "it justifies doing something."

Both former advisers said they think both Washington and Tehran are internally divided on how to proceed, making progress difficult before the next U.S. president takes office. But they said that President Bush's sending Undersecretary of State William J. Burns to the most recent negotiations with Iran was a positive step.

"It brings the U.S. solidly in with the Europeans and the Russians," Scowcroft said.

Oh,I'll just bet it does.

Of course, the real game is probably already being played behind the scenes,I think. Several of my notorious little birdies have mentioned the possibility of a quid pro quo between Iran and the US that explains a number of things, like US acquiescence to Iran and Hezbollah taking over Lebanon and marginalizing the US backed Siniora government,the sudden decrease of the price of crude oil,increased diplomatic overtures to Syria and Iran and the drying up of supplies and men for Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Iraq.

It could very well be that the US has a loose quid pro quo with Iran to exchange a graceful exit in Iraq, a ceiling on crude prices and continued trading of oil in dollars in exchange for de facto Iranian control of Lebanon and Iraq after we leave, and a guarantee of no US military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities or aid or assistance to the Israelis in pulling one off.

This would be the classic realpolitik bargain, and it could very well be reality.

All that aside, the Iranians will see the non-muscular response of the West to their calculated insult on a "none paper" to be weakness and rank appeasement, and it will encourage them to even greater audacity and aggression.

Ever since 1979 and the Mullah's takeover of the American embassy and the successful imprisonment of American hostages every aggression by Iran or its proxies against the Great Satan has been met either by retreat or appeasement.

There's a historical precedent that shows where this type of cowardice and appeasement leads..to death and ashes.

Incredible Scientific Breaktrough

An all natural, FDA approved cure for personal anxiety and self doubt has just emerged, and apparently it's been right under our collective noses..truly amazing. You'll need Windows Media Player to view this:

Adverstis...wmv (553.9 KB)


Thanks and a commendation to Joshua's Army member Louie Louie for bringing this to my attention.

McCain Accuses Press Of Media Bias

Ah, well...the penny finally appears to have dropped, as our friends in Oz would say as John McCain accused the media of favorable bias toward Obama...:

The Republican presidential hopeful John McCain let his frustration with the US media boil over today for its saturation coverage of Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East and Europe.

McCain, upset over the extent to which his campaign has been eclipsed, launched a new video on the internet titled Obama Love, with quotes from television anchors and other journalists that he regards as evidence of bias.

The launch of the video came the day after McCain protested over what he saw as another sign of bias, a rejection of a comment article on Iraq he submitted to the New York Times.

It is a turnaround for McCain, who established a reputation for good and open relations with the press during his unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination in 2000 and again during this year's primaries contest. But since Obama won the Democratic nomination last month, his campaign team has complained repeatedly the US media is behaving as if the election is a foregone conclusion in favour of Obama.

Real Clear Politics, which tracks all the main opinion polls and publishes an average, shows McCain is only slightly behind Obama, 46% to 41%.

Goodness, Senator..did you actually have the illusion these people were ever going to be fair and unbiased once a leftist Democrat was actually in the running? Do you have any idea how much money the press stands to make on book deals covering the campaign of the First Black President? I'd bet copy is being filed for editing every day.

Ideology aside, a McCain victory would likely cause severe financial distress toa significant portion of the dinosaur media. High time he realized they're no friends of his.

Short Takes: Worth Reading, 07/21/08

Short takes is my way of cramming a lot into a small space for you..kind of like the young gentleman above is doing! Here's a brief rundown of some of today's items of interest for Joshua's Army:

*The War is Over. We Won - Michael Yon pens another gem, reflecting on our victory in Iraq.

*The New York Times rejected John McCain's op-ed response to Barack Obama's op-ed in it's pages on the grounds that anything McCain writes should "mirror Obama" in the words of the NYT editorial editor David Shipley. 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'

So much for journalistic integrity, eh Mr. Shipley? While Shipley said he'd be willing to look at another draft, the McCain campaign, to its credit essentially told him to get bent.FTR, I once had a similar experience with the minions of the Paper of Refuse, who wanted to publish an op-ed of mine on the Middle East - provided I would allow them to edit it in such a fashion as to change the meaning and political stance of the piece 180 degrees. I declined the opportunity, to put it politely.

*To those of following the Olmert soap opera in Israel, the latest is that the Olmert's Kadima party has approved a September primary, which will involve picking a candidate when the country goes to new elections, most likely in November. The falling out of thieves is continuing within Kadima, with Olmert calling Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni a backstabbing liar and Livni saying Olmert is corrupt and must step down. Fascinating how they both seem to know each other so well...

*Politics, Chicago style...in apparent payback for last week's satirical magazine cover the Obama campaign denied a NEW YORKER writer a plane seat on the current international dog and pony show. I suppose with an entourage of over two hundred media flacks, make up and wardrobe people, camera men and who knows what, they were just a little short of space and of course that satirical cover last week had nothing to do with it. The writer, Ryan Lizza was the same person who wrote that very interesting article about Obama's background in Chicago machine politics that sparked the cover. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

*A Strategy For McCain - Rich Lowry & Ramesh Ponnuru from the National Review have some interesting reflections on possible strategies for McCain to win in `08.

*UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressed the Israeli Knesset today, becoming the first British Prime Minister to do so.He proclaimed himeself a `longtime friend of Israel' in good times and bad,who's father supposedly spoke Hebrew and was on his local church's Israel Committee.

Of course, it would have been downright rude to ask the Prime Minister why such a true friend was avidly advocating the re-division of Jerusalem and the uprooting of thousands of Jews from their homes simply because they're Jews 'for peace'...or why Britain still maintains an arms embargo against Israel, even when it comes to parts for pilot ejecters simply designed to save Israeli lives.

Rude yes...but also quite revealing.

*US Attorney General Michael Mukasey has asked Congress to write new rules on 'detainees'(I prefer the term POWs)in view of the recent 5-4 Supreme Court Boumedianne decision allowing incarcerated POWs the right of US citizens to habeus corpus to challenge the US government's right to hold them. Mukasey is rightfully concerned that such trials will become what he termed 'a smörgåsbord of classified information' for our enemies.

Shilling For Murderers

One of the characteristics of evil in our modern society is that there are always those willing to spin it and advocate for it.

Soccer Dad points out a superb example as he rips into the McClatchy chain's DIon Nissembaum's qwhite wash of child murderer Samir Kuntar, now recieving a hero's welcome in Lebanon after being part of th eswap of live murderers for dead bodies by Israel last week:

"Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy's Israel correspondent, lets all know where his sympathies lie, with Samir Kuntar.

As Israel was getting ready to free Kuntar last Wednesday, the Lebanese militant told guards that he didn't want to walk to freedom in a prison uniform.
When the Israeli guards refused, Kuntar said he told them to call off the deal.

"I've kept my dignity for 30 years," Kuntar said he told his jailers, "I'm not going to give it up in the last half hour."

The standoff lasted until the guards called their superiors, who eventually agreed to let Kuntar go free in civilian clothes.once free after nearly 30 years, Kuntar traded the civilian clothes for military fatigues and delivered a defiant threat to return to his militant mission.

Dignity?

Accepting a wife and an education and plenty of food from the evil Zionists for 30 years didn't compromise his dignity? Why the hell did the authorities give in?

Though Israel recently released long-secret court records with eyewitness testimony and medical reports to support Kuntar's conviction for shooting an Israeli dad in front of his daughter and then smashing the 4-year-old girl's head with his rifle butt, Kuntar denies killing either one.

From his 1980 trial to to this day, Kuntar has said that the two were killed by Israeli bullets in a firefight as he tried to flee. Kuntar contends that he meant to take hostages in an attack that went awry.

"This was a military operation," says Kuntar's younger brother, Bassam, who led a long PR campaign to free Samir. "We have to accept the reality of what happened, but we will never accept that this operation was aimed at children."

It wasn't aimed at children? So why the hell did he take Einat Haran out to the beach? Come on. Nissenbaum, at least challenge the less plausible claims. And why not tell your audience that there was an eyewitness to the atrocities on the beach and that the evidence you link to, physically tied Kuntar to the murder of Einat. His fingerprints were on the rifle that had her brain tissue. (That also contradicts his claim that Danny and Einat Haran were killed by Israeli bullets.)
And for dessert, Nissinbaum let's a Lebanese "political analyst" (actually Hezbollah mouthpiece from other articles I've seen by this woman)

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Beirut-based political analyst and Hezbollah specialist, said people here simply don't accept Israel's version of events.

"I don't think all Lebanese believe he actually killed the child," she said.

For others, there is a certain callousness in their replies.

"How come they have the right to feel sad for one or three people when they killed thousands in the south," said the woman in the market, who criticized Israel for bombing Lebanon during the 2006 war in a 34-day campaign that killed 1,200 Lebanese civilians.

So they don't believe he killed Einat Haran, but they do believe that he killed a policeman and Danny Haran, don't they? Isn't there something offensive about a society that lionizes murderers?

Nissenbaum surely knows that 1200 Lebanese civilians weren't killed in the war two years ago. At least half were members of Hezbollah. (Yes Hezbollah claims the number is less than 200. But do you really trust Hezbollah?) But that was a war in which Israeli civilians were targeted and killed. It's not like Israel simply took civilians from their homes and killed them, the deaths occurred in the context of war. There is a difference."

Read the whole thing.

Maliki Claims Was Mistranslated By Media -Again

This morning, headlines splashed all over the web and throughout the dinosaur media:

"Maliki Endorses Obama Plan For Iraq!" "Maliki Endorses Obama For President!"

Needless to say the Left blogosphere went absolutely berserk over this with joy.

What helped cause this orgasm was an interview in Germany's Der Spiegal with Maliki saying he thought Obama 16 month retreat fromiraq was `about right',which the Bush Administration's press office 'inadvertently' e-mailed to the media.

Except for one thing...Maliki, for the second time in a week says he was misquoted and mistranslated, that he's not supporting Obama and that tenure of US trops should be 'limited',but without a specific timetable.

Unfortunately, Obama had already leaped on this like a pitbull on a poodle, announcing:
(click to enlarge)

So much for presenting yourself as a budding great leader and diplomat when you get screwed twice in one week believing the agenda-driven nonsense of the dinosaur media.

Whoopsie.

Aside from Barack Hussein Obama's fecklessness,I find it interesting that the White House press office would 'accidentally' fax this to the media. The word I hear from my notorious little birdies is that President Bush is not pleased at all with the idea of McCain as the nominee..the bad blood between them goes way back and Bush is apparently not happy with McCain not seeking a more active role for Bush in the campaign and reminding everybody that the president was dead wrong on Iraq and he was correct,or pushing for energy independence in contrast to the Bush Administration's 8 years of mostly being AWOL on the subject.

Accordingly, Bush's Pioneers, Rangers and Super Rangers - loyalists who have raised over $100, $200 and $300 thousand, respectively - are reportedly keeping their wallets closed this year for the most part.

I'm hearing consistent rumors that Bush is doing what he can to sabotage McCain without being overly obvious about it, in preparation for Jeb or another Bush family protege' to run in 2012.

Considering the president's role in destroying the Republican party during his second term, I find the rumors fairly credible.

Absolutely One Of The Best Prank Calls Ever...

I dare you not to laugh out loud at this one..I did!

Warning: R rated language...NSFW

"Weak And Desperate For A Deal"

Indeed, Bubba....the sands run out of the hourglass and the weak go to the wall.

In its waning days, the Bush Administration is trying to salvage its foreign policy fiasco on Iran by making one last attempt to see if the mullahs can be bought off - at any price.

Condi Rice has mobilized her minions in the State Department and has now crossed even the feeble, shaky line in the sand President Bush had before,of no talks or diplomacy with Iran until they agreed to cease their illicit nuclear enrichment and be a tad more transparent about exactly what their nuclear program is all about.

I guarantee the mullahs have been laughing behind their beards at that one, probably wondering how even an infidel ferenghi could be that stupid when Ahmadinejad has been telling them exactly what the mullahs want nukes for all along. I mean, how many times do they have to chant 'Death to America' or talk about annihilating Israel or holding oil prices and the Persian Gulf hostage does it take?

Apparently the message still hasn't sunk in, because Dubbyah and Condi have dispatched Undersecretary of State William Burns to Geneva for direct talks with Iran's new nuclear spokesmouth Saeed Jalili and are even talking about re-establishing formal relations and sending US diplomats to staff an 'interests office' in Iran, a country that openly admits that it's been in a state of war with us for over thirty years and has been acting on it.

Apparently one hostage crisis wasn't enough.

While Condi is trying to spin this frantically, I doubt even she believes what she's saying anymore at this point, although she inadvertently let quite a lot slip.

"The United States doesn't have any permanent enemies," Rice said in a press conference. "This decision to send Undersecretary (William) Burns is an affirmation of the policy that we have been pursuing with our European allies ... for some time now."

"It is, in fact, a strong signal to the entire world that we have been very serious about this diplomacy and we will remain very serious about this diplomacy."

Rice also said that Burns is there not to negotiate, but to listen. But for that matter, Jalili isn't there to negotiate either. He's there to hear what price the West is offering and convey it to his masters in Tehran, so the bargaining can begin, and it will probably continue when Ahmadinejad comes to New York to address the UN.

So, what will the Mullahs want, in exchange for an agreement they have no intention of keeping anyway? That remains to be seen.

One thing they've apparently already gotten is assurances that the US has definitely taken any kind of military action off the table as long as George Bush is in the White House...and that the US will not do anything to assist the Israelis in taking action.

The Israelis, of course may wake up to find themselves expendable, if they haven't already.

So, how are the Iranians seeing this? Our ex-Ambassador to the UN John Bolton put it quite well, calling it a U turn in American policy. "To the Iranians, it will send a sign of the political weakness of a (US) administration in its last days and desperate for a deal," he told The Associated Press.

It's exactly that, and the Iranians are probably are happily surprised at the new turn of events as Hitler was back in 1938 at the weakness of Britain and France.

This will come back to haunt us.

A Good Day For Us, And A Really Bad Day For Deserters

US Army Deserter Robin Long, who I've written about previously, was deported from Canada today by the Canadian government and is enjoying his new home...a Washington jail cell.

We used to shoot deserters, but that's a bit declasse' nowadays, unfortunately. As it is, I hope they throw the book at him. No one has the right to make a private peace during war time.

In related news James Burmeister, another deserter who voluntarily turned himself in was given a Dishonorable Discharge and sentenced to nine months in jail. Burmeister at least fled after being previously wounded in combat and then turned himself in to the authorities, which is why he probably ended up with only nine months in jail and a DD.

This will undoubtedly send a message to the two hundred odd deserters still hiding out in Canada and encourage them to emigrate elsewhere, which I'm sure the Canadians will be just fine with.

Just so long as they don't return here to pollute our beloved Republic except in handcuffs or behind bars.

The Council Has Spoken, 7/18/08

The Council has spoken!

And now(drum roll...) the winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Wolf Howling: Critiquing The Obama Manifesto On Iraq and Melanie Phillips: Sleepwalking Into Islamization

All members, please be sure to link to both winning entries (and to the full results of the vote) in a post. Four members were unable to vote this week, but Cheat Seeking Missiles,Hillbilly White Trash and Done With Mirrors were the only members affected by the 2/3 vote penalty, as per our bylaws. Thanks to everyone for all the great entries this week... Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

COUNCIL

1) Wolf Howling: Critiquing The Obama Manifesto On Iraq 1 2/3

2)BookWorm Room:It's official: Obama doesn't flip-flop, he just does nuanced "rephrases" 1 1/3

3)JoshuaPundit: Will Israel Attack Iran? 1 1/3

4)The Razor:What Can We Do To Reduce Oil Consumption? 2/3

5)The Glittering Eye: Sen. Obama Re-States His Plan for Iraq 1/3

NON-COUNCIL

1)Melanie Phillips: Sleepwalking Into Islamization 2 2/3

2)Doug Ross & Journal: Let Me Put It In Pictures For Our Progressive Friends 1 2/3

3)Harris County Criminal Justice System: A Good Man 1

4)Dan Drezner:"We are seriously concerned about this most serious outbreak of seriousness" 2/3

5)EU Referendum:The Great Bio Fuels Con 2/3

6)7.62 Justice: Troop Drawdown 1/3

In passing,I'd like to thank my fellow Council members for their help, encouragement and good wishes in helping me put the Council vote together in this time of transition for all of us. It is indeed a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this group.

IDF Doctors: Israeli Prisoners Were Tortured And Mutilated

The Israelis should have been prepared for it, but when they opened the caskets, they found that Hezbollah apparently tortured Israeli captives Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and mutilated their bodies:

According to Israeli officials, the bodies were received in a severely-damaged state which may have lengthened the confirmation of their identities. Former IDF Medical Corps and Chief Military Rabbinate officials have noted the tragic expertise Israel has gathered in years of conflict, but remained shocked by what they saw yesterday at the Rosh HaNikra border crossing.

Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, former Chief Rabbi of the IDF, who was present during the transfer of the fallen soldiers yesterday, said that "the verification process yesterday was very slow, because, if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel. And I'll leave it at that."

Again, this is hardly a surprise. These are the same people who took a US marine colonel, Bill Buckley captive and tortured him to death in front of video cameras..after which they sent a copy to the White House.

The Israelis are apparently keeping this quiet out of consideration for the two soldiers' families. I think that's a huge mistake.

First, the Israeli people and the rest of us badly need a reminder to see exactly the kind of people we're fighting,and to understand something about the kind of people who are treating Samir Kuntar as a hero today.Seeing grisly videos like the one of Nick Berg's beheading convinced a number of people of the true nature of the jihad against us.

Finally, after, seeing what was done to Regev and Goldwasser might do a great deal to silence some of the moral relativists among us. I've already seen 'news' articles in CNN and in al-Reuters referring to Samir Kuntar as an 'alleged' murderer or as simply a 'released prisoner' and repeating the lie used by his defense at the trial, that Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter Einat were killed by an IDF cross fire.

Aside from the fact that witnesses testified that they saw Kuntar shoot Haran in front of his daughter and then smash her skull in with his rifle butt, evidence revealed at the trial matched the bullets in Daniel with Kuntar's gun...which also had brain tissue and skin residue from little Einat still on the butt end.For those interested,The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( MOFA) has released the trial records and has them archived on its site.

After seeing what had been done to the Israeli captives,the IDF should have opened fire on Kuntar and his mates and made the trade an equal one..dead bodies for dead bodies. And they should have let the world know why.

Allowing them to walk away free after that was not 'civilization', but appalling weakness and immoral behavior.

That lapse will not come without a price in the future.

"Like The Alamo, But With A Better Ending"

You may recall the dinosaur's media's reporting on an attack by the Taliban that nearly overan a US base in Afghanistan and left nine US soldiers dead.

What's fascinating is the part of the story they didn't report...an amazing victory for our warriors overe the Taliban when they were outnumbered by better than 8 to one.As Jeff Emanuel relates:

Reporters were quick to point out that this battle, which began in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and lasted well into the day, resulted in the highest number of American casualties in Afghanistan since sixteen were killed when a helicopter was downed by RPG fire.

However, when the smoke of the battle cleared, and there was no mounting total of dead Americans to cover, news agencies lost interest, and moved along to cover other, bloodier developments in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Had those mainstream reporters continued paying attention, chances are they would have noted something remarkable about Sunday's battle.

Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d Airborne, accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly taken advantage of.

A combined force of up to 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters quickly moved into the nearby village of Wanat and prepared for their assault by evicting unallied residents and according to an anonymous senior Afghan defense ministry official, "us[ing] their houses to attack us."

Tribesmen in the town stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during the fight," General Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, the provincial police chief, told The Associated Press. Dug-in mortar firing positions were created, and with that indirect fire, as well as heavy machine gun and RPG fire from fixed positions, Taliban and al Qaeda fighters rushed the COP from three sides.

The attackers quickly breached the outer perimeter, and, under a withering barrage of supporting fire, a contingent of a mere 70 U.S. and Afghan soldiers combined were forced to fight for survival on their own outpost against the all-out assault from nearly 100 assailants.

The overwhelmingly outnumbered U.S. troops called in artillery, as well as fixed and rotary-wing air support, to help the repulse the attacking forces.

As recounted by the AP and other media outlets, nine U.S. paratroopers lost their lives -- a full fifth of the American contingent.

Further, fifteen U.S. and four Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attack, meaning that, against an assault and support force of nearly 500 militant fighters, only 21 U.S. and 21 Afghan soldiers were able to fight at full strength -- and they succeeded not only in killing dozens of attackers, but in repelling the onslaught completely.

The dinosaur media couldn't be bothered to report this amazing tale of heroism by our warriors except in the context of American casualties, defeat and 'quagmire'.

They have their script already written...if our enemies attack at all, it's a victory for them and an American defeat, no matter what the actual outcome is.And if things go too obviously well,they ignore it, hoping it will go away.

Someone, thinking to insult me once said on these pages that I 'wasn't a journalist'. And then was totally baffled when I thanked him for that compliment.

hat tip Ace

Gay Marriage Takes It In The.....Ballot Box

The California Supreme Court has unanimously refused to hear a legal challenge by gay marriage advocates to Proposition 8,which would amend the State Constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.

It will go on the ballot in November and I'd be surprised if it didn't pass handily, especially as all it needs is a simple majority.

If it does,this would be the second time the voters of California have outlawed same-sex marriages in the state,and part of the sentiment against it comes from people who dislike the idea of judges essentially legislating from the bench and thwarting the will of the people simply because they felt like it. The last time this was up before the voters,back in 2000, 61% of them voted for it, in the form of proposition 22.

Last May, the same Supreme Court overturned Proposition 22 by a 4-3 vote, even though the justices acknowledged that California's Domestic Partnership law gave gay couples essentially the same rights as heterosexual married couples.

The actual opinion was interesting as I pointed out earlier, because very early on it became an ipse dixit( legalese for 'because I said so') opinion and stops citing existing law and the California Constitution to dwell in the cloudlands of 'fundamental rights'.

Yes, four of these same justices somehow inferred a right to gay marriage in the state constitution, and the voters? Faggedabbouddit. California became the second state in the union to legalize same-sex marriage, and the only one to recognize same-sex marriages from out of state.

That was apparently a little too much for the electorate to swallow, and Proposition 8, which will void the decision by permanently amending the state constitution will be on the ballot.

The people of California will now vote on the issue...again.

Californians will also be voting for president in November, with one candidate, John McCain, who's on record as opposing same-sex marriages and another Barack Obama who isn't.Add that to the large Latino vote that is likely to both support the initiative and have some very mixed feelings about Barack Obama anyway (Hillary Clinton won the Hispanic vote in California by better than two to one) and things could get interesting in California at election time.

Pimping For The Angel Of Death

Samir Kuntar with Hezbollah Chief SheikNasrullah


In Israel today, the Olmert government's incredibly bad decision to swap the bodies of two Israelis Hezbollah kidnapped and murdered for the release of six Hezbollah terrorists from Israeli prisons and the bodies of a number of others has been carried out.

The horrific implications that will likely result from this are staggering...for Israel, for the West, and believe it or not, for the Arabs themselves.

For Israel, the trading of live terrorists with blood on their hands for the dead bodies of two Israeli soldiers endangers the life of every Israeli captured by the Arabs, including Gilad Shalit, who is still a prisoner of Hamas. After all,why should Hezbollah or any other Arab captor return a live Jew when they can get such a handsome price for a dead one?

It also endangers the life of every Jew in Israel, since Hezbollah and Hamas have now discovered that kidnapping not only works, but yields big dividends both in propaganda value and in kind.

Hamas is already talking about the success of this tactic and about raising the price for the release of Shalit. There is no question that there will be more 'operations' designed to capture or kill Israelis, especially now that the deterrent factor has been so reduced.

The implications for the West are no less grim. Hamas has already been successfully able to hold Britons Alan Johnston and Kate Burton, a British `human rights' worker for hefty ransoms, along with who knows how many others and pulled their navy out of the Persian Gulf after a few sailors were kidnapped by Iran. The same is true of reporter Jill Carol and FOX News reporters Steve Centanni and photographer Olaf Wiig. The German government paid a ransom for hostages and has now had four more of its citizens kidnapped by the PKK. And this are by no means the full list.

The Islamic tradition already sanctifies the taking of captives for ransom and to terrorize enemies, and they now have the example of Israel, one of the few states with a reputation for standing up to terrorists now caving in and swapping live terrorists for corpses after Hezbollah bluntly refused to abide by any of what we would refer to as civilized norms by allowing a sign of life from the captives.

They have likely been dead for some time after who knows what kind of treatment at the hands of Hezbollah, and Hezbollah and the Islamists everywhere now have yet another object lesson that kidnapping works...whether you deliver a live victim or not.

It's important to remember that every tactic used by jihadists against the West got its first trial run in Israel.There will be more of this, and not just in 'the Zionist entity.'

The implications for the Arabs, particularly Hezbollah,the Lebanese and the Palestinians are just as stark, although very few of them realize it yet. That can easily be seen when we look at who the terrorists released actually are, and the Arab reaction to that release.

Among the Hezbollah killers released is Samir Kuntar, who is returning to a hero's welcome in Lebanon,organized by Hezbollah and the Siniora government. He is seen as a heroic figure by both Hezbollah,most of the Lebanese and by the Palestinians, and it is revealing to look at why Kuntar was in an Israeli prison serving two life terms after being convicted in an Israeli court.

One night in April, 1978, Kuntar and three accomplices landed at the Israeli coastal town of Nahariya from the sea, and then invaded an apartment. They seized Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter Einat as hostages. They then took them down to the beach, where Kuntar shot the little girl's father in front of her eyes and then murdered the child by smashing her head on a rock with a rifle butt. The family's other two-year old daughter Yael was killed when her mother accidentally smothered her while hiding in a closet from Kuntar and his men.

Smadar Haran, wife and mother of the murder victims, described the murder in the Washington Post in 2003 in these words:

"It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty. It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach. Around midnight, the terrorists burst into our building. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat . I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the terrorists voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother, I thought.

The terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar." [Smadar Haran Kaiser, Washington Post, May 18, 2003]

Kuntar has never voiced the slightest regret for murdering a child's father in front of her and then dashing her brains out with a rifle butt. Having been well treated in prison, he has announced that he plans to return to the front lines of the jihad against the Jews.

This is the man the Palestinians honored by making him an honorary Palestinian citizen two years ago, and the man the Palestinians and Lebanon are celebrating today as a hero...and Arafat II Mahmoud Abbas,Israel's supposed peace partner referred to Kuntar as `heroic' and to his having won 'a big struggle.'

Another hero the Palestinians and indeed most of the Arab world are honoring today is Dalal Mughrabi, who's remains were released as part of the swap.

She was the leader of what became known in Israel as the Coastal Massacre. On March 11, 1978, Mughrabi led a band of eleven terrorists who murdered several people in cold blood, including an American photographer, Gail Rubin. They then hijacked a bus filled with families going on an outing.

When the IDF unit managed to stop the bus, Mughrabi and her gang began shooting the helpless men, women and children at point-blank range and then firebombed the bus itself, turning it into a death trap. At least 35 were killed, including 13 children and a number of Americans.

The Palestinian Authority named a girls' school in Hebron after Mughrabi, a few streets and a number of other government institutions like summer camps, and there have been a number of books, television and radio programs about her 'heroic martyrdom.' She's regarded by Palestinian Arabs as a role model.

They are now seeking to reclaim her remains for what the Palestinian Authority calls a 'festive ceremony.'

When the Palestinians and the Lebanese honor monsters like these,they are sending a message to Israelis, and indeed to the rest of us.They are telling us that, Nazi-like, they have poisoned themselves with hatred to the point where they no longer recognize their adversaries as human and that no horror is too beyond the pale for them to commit.They are letting the world know that no accommodation with them is possible.

They have sent this message before,particularly the Palestinians, but rarely in so public a fashion to the world at large. It was so blatant that even the New York Times hurriedly whipped up one of their cycle-of violence specialties and attempted to humanize Kuntar on the basis that he supposedly had a rough childhood!

Also, there are a number of Israelis, especially those who made it their business to tune out before who are now seeing the images of Kuntar being feted and are going to be taking a very different view of the so-called peace process..especially in the event of wars with the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas.

So far,the Arabs have been able to conduct the war against Israel on a tribal level,with no holds barred, while the Israelis have prided themselves on trying to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage for the most part,no matter what you might see on al-Jazeera or on the BBC.

If the Israelis begin defending themselves and taking the fight to their enemies with anything like the same sort of rules Hezbollah and Hamas observe, there may be a solution to the Middle East conflict that the people now idolizing Kuntar and Mughrabi didn't bargain for.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 7/15/08

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. After we complete our Mystic Rites, the winners are chosen, and the results will be announced here on Friday, July 18th.

There is a slight change of pace this week, as our infamous leader, The Watcher Of Weasels has retired from the fray and is going to devote himself to working on recovering his health. We will miss his guidance, his sense of humor and his ability to put up with our silliness. He will remain as our Leader Emeritus in spirit, and we wish him all the best.

We may be adding one more seat on the Council. Please e-mail me at rmill2k@msn.com to obtain the rules for applying.

For this week, the Council will be held here on JoshuaPundit as the Council finishes deliberating on the necessary changes in logistics, but have no fear..the best in the blogosphere will continue to be found at the Weekly Watcher's Council Roundup!

OK then....here are this week's fine entries:


Council

1.JoshuaPundit: Will Israel Attack Iran?

2.Soccer Dad:The Army's Top 10 inventions And The Legacy Of Harry Diamond

3.The Glittering Eye: Sen. Obama Re-States His Plan for Iraq

4.Cheat Seeking Missiles: Laundry Guilt

5.BookWorm Room:It's official: Obama doesn't flip-flop, he just does nuanced "rephrases"

6.Rhymes With Right: Ny Times Sides With Border Jumping Immigration Criminals

7.Wolf Howling: Critiquing The Obama Manifesto On Iraq

8.The Razor:What Can We Do To Reduce Oil Consumption?

9.Done With Mirrors: Poetry Matters

10The Colossus Of Rhodey:The Latest - Global Warming Causes Kidney Stones!

11.Hillbilly White Trash:What To Do About The Dollar

12.The Education Wonk: Texas Teacher Shortage?


Non-Council


1.Shrinkwrapped:Making People Better

2.Doug Ross & Journal: Let Me Put It In Pictures For Our Progressive Friends

3.Dan Drezner:"We are seriously concerned about this most serious outbreak of seriousness"

4.Power Line: Obama's Dishonest Op-Ed

5.Power Line:Setting the Record Straight

6.Harris County Criminal Justice System: A Good Man

7.EU Referendum:The Great Bio Fuels Con

8.Israel Matzav: Lebanon plans 'state ceremony' to welcome Kuntar

9.Melanie Phillips: Sleepwalking Into Islamization

10.7.62 Justice: Troop Drawdown

11.Seraphic Secrets: Comrade Obama Purges Website

12.Vox Popoli: Home and Garden hater

Short Takes: Worth Reading, 7/15/08

Short takes is my way of cramming a lot into a small space for you..kind of like the young gentleman above is doing! Here's a brief rundown of some of today's items of interest for Joshua's Army:


*Ex-British PM Tony Blair cancelled a sceduled trip to Hamastan today because of a "specific security threat to assassinate him.This was supposed to be Blair's first trip to Gaza, where he was supposed to tour an internationally-funded waste water treatment plant and rub elbows with UN and other dignitaries.

In a way, it's only poetic justice. Tony Blair was one of the EU dignitaries who made the pilgrimage to Ramallah to lay a wreath on the crypt covering St. Arafat's rotting corpus... only one year after three US American consular officials were murdered in Gaza in 2004 on Arafat's orders.

For the record, according to H.R. 2293, passed by the US Congress, all aid to the Palestinian Authority was supposed to have been curtailed until the killers of those three Americans were brought to justice. Although both Mahmoud Abbas and the head of Fatah's Security have admitted that the killers are known, due to the "sensitivity of the situation" no one has yet been punished for this crime.


*The Pentagon is not among those discounting the Iranian threat after Iran's ludicrous photo shopped missile test. I would imagine the Israelis aren't either.

In a related story, Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the panel's senior Republican, announced an agreement to expand US sanctions on Iran.

*Remember the case of the infamous `Jumpin' Imams', who were removed from a US Airways flight after behavior that would make any rational person suspicious? As you know, backed by CAIR and the ACLU they brought suit against the company, charging racism and profiling. That trial is now in its discovery phase, and believe it or not Omar Mohammedi, attorney for the imams, and President of the Board of Directors for the New York Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is demanding that US Airways release all information on ?airline security procedures.

Most of the members of Joshua's Army will of course quickly realize that this was a major reason for the entire episode of the imam's curious behavior in the first place - to obtain espionage and extract intel on airline security in a particularly foolproof way if the judge bends over for it.

No word yet on whether CAIR and the imams have been successful at this yet.

* The Canadian Courts have allowed the deportation of US deserter Robin Long back to the United States, which unfortunately means we have to take him back. The court ruling, boiled down to basics could be summarized as: "Don't throw your garbage up here, eh!"

This is a landmark ruling, which will either lead to a number of US deserters being deported or an influx of these people out of Canada to other countries...either of which I'm sure the Canadians are just fine with.

*John McCain is having a fine time mocking Obama for editing surge criticism out of his website... Hey, change, suckah! Don't you hate that stuff when it happens?

Lebanon:"We'll Take The Land By Force"

If the Israelis refuse to give up what he called "Israeli-occupied land" to Lebanon, Lebanese President General Michel Sueleiman said the Lebanese Army will take it by force. Suleiman made the threats while speaking at a press conference after a quiet meeting with his puppet master Syrian President Basher Assad at French President Sarkozy's Mediterranean conference in Paris.

The "occupied land" Suleiman is talking about is the strategic Shabaa Farms/Mount Dov area.It's high ground that Israel captured from Syria during the Six Day War.

When Israel pulled out of South Lebanon back in 2000,they went to considerable trouble to get a UN ruling on whom this land belonged,and the UN Security Council issued Resolution 425 saying it was formerly part of Syria, not Lebanon,and that any negotiations onth ematter woul dbe between Israel and Syriaq. Being that Syria is still in a state of war with Israel and doesn't recognize its existence the Israelis continued to hang on to it, not being total fools. Needless to say, the UN has now refused to honor their own resolution on the matter,just as they usually do when Israel is concerned.

Blogger extraordinaire Soccer Dad has a fine piece on this subject that I heartily recommend as excellent background on this hypocrisy.

No matter what the UN says, Hezbollah claims that the area in question belongs to Lebanon,and that they'd just love it as a desirable site for missile launchers.Syria and Lebanon haven't really resolved the issue between them,but seeing as Syria owns Lebanon again these days,I suppose it really doesn't matter...

Assad took the time in Paris to pat his puppy Suleiman on the head and assert a little alpha dominance, saying Lebanon had an important role to play in the Middle East and that any progress in future Israel-Lebanon negotiations would be made in coordination with Syria.

Of course, peace negotiations aren't all that's going to be made in coordination with Syria,or with Iran, for that matter. Assad likewise has threatened war if the Israelis don't knuckle under and cede the Golan to them...and a war with Hezbollah, Syria and Lebanon is coming in any event, no matter what Israel does.

If the Olmert government is silly enough to give up the Mount Dov area, they have as good as given Hezbollah an advanced post to attack Northern Israel with impunity.

Hence the threats - Assad and Suleiman know whom they're dealing with and are hoping Olmert will cave in before he's kicked out of office and put behind bars.

Maliki Turns Around - And Leaves Barack Obama Hanging

As I reported before, Iraqi PM Maliki and his national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie made headlines recently by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq.

And Barack Hussein Obama pounced on that notion quickly, writing a farcical op-ed in The New York Times trumpeting the fact that the Iraqi government wants us out and outlining his plans to do just that. I could almost mentally picture him fist bumping his circle of advisers in triumph as this went to press.

Except for one thing...Mr. Hope N'Change forgot that things really do change.

Maliki apparently said nothing of the kind, and didn't use the word "withdrawal"!

What he actually said was: "The direction ( of the negotiations) is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on programming their presence."

He claims his office inserted the word "withdrawal" in the written version, replacing the word "presence", and apparently had no explanation as to how the `error' happened.

The explanation,of course is exactly the one I gave you earlier..Maliki is in bazaari mode negotiating for the best price between the American infidels and Iran.

Both sides have obviously made it clear to him that he needs to make a choice very soon, and he's keeping his options open.Not the sort of straight forward stuff we're used to, but this is the Middle East.

Meanwhile Barack Obama ended up merely looking foolish for diving in.

Change, Suckah! It happens...

hattip to Hot Air