Today in History.....July 31

On this day in …

1919, Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly

1941, Herman Goering, ym"sh, writing under instructions from Hitler, ym"sh, ordered Reinhard Heydrich, ym"sh, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's, ym"sh, number-two man, "to submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."

1945, Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi, ym"sh, Vichy government, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him

1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface

1972, Democratic vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment

1981, a 7-week-old Major League Baseball strike ended
1991, President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow

1996, after President Clinton's announcement that he would sign it, 98 Democrats joined the House's Republican majority to pass a historic welfare overhaul bill. ALSO: The White House won agreement with key Republican lawmakers on a package of anti-terrorism measures

2001, Israeli helicopters fired missiles into offices of the Hamas movement, killing the terrorist group's leader, among others


2005, police arrested seven people during a raid on an apartment in southern England, bringing to 21 the number in custody in the relentless hunt for accomplices in the failed July 21 transit bombings in London

Retraction of Yesterday's Post, THIS is World War 1

Felis at Democracy Frontline has a post today that provides clarity on the mis-numbering of the global wars.

He's right, what we are experiencing now is the Great War, World War 1, and it has been going on since the year 622.

Read his post here. Thanks Felis!

Greetings From Tequila, Jalisco, México

The Mrs., our 3 niños y sus padres with 3 local Indians of Tequila. We go every year, except this year I had too much going on, they're there for 3 weeks. The building behind them is the church that we were married in.......it is 476 years old, it's a large church and very beautiful. Have fun!

Islamic Sharia Law in Action

This is sick. Religion of Peace, my ass.

Need to scroll down, you'll know when you get there.

Thanks to Brooke at NeoCon Command Center.

Today in History.....July 28

On this day in …

1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain

1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing due process of law, was declared in effect


1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand money they were not scheduled to receive until 1945

1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2

1965, President Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate
1996, federal investigators reported "very good leads" in the hunt for the Olympic bomber, a day after the explosion in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta that killed a Georgia woman.

ALSO: President Clinton, addressing a veterans convention in New Orleans, called on Congress to pass expanded anti-terrorism measures

2001, Alejandro Toledo, Peru's first freely elected president of Indian descent, was sworn into office

2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset, Pa., were rescued after 77 hours underground


2005, NASA said space shuttle Discovery had escaped any serious damage from the potentially deadly piece of foam that broke off from the fuel tank during liftoff and looked safe to fly home in a week.

ALSO: The Irish Republican Army renounced the use of violence against British rule in Northern Ireland and said it would disarm

August 22, 2006 - The Official Start of WWIII?

I'm thinking it's already underway, kicked off by Hizballah's kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers and bombing in Lebanon and Israel.

Director of Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer has an article in FrontPageMag.com titled Iran's Day of Terror , he writes.......

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has frustrated Western officials by refusing to reply to their offer of various incentives in exchange for Iran’s discarding its nuclear program until August 22. The Western governments had asked Ahmadinejad to reply by June 29; why would Tehran need two extra months?

Farid Ghadry, the president of the Reform Party of Syria, has offered a provocative explanation for this delay. He asserts that the Supreme National Security Council of Iran chose the August 22 date “for a very precise reason. August 21, 2006 (Rajab 27, 1427) is known in the Islamic calendar as the Night of the Sira’a and Miira’aj, the night Prophet Mohammed (saas) ascended to heaven from the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on a Bourak (Half animal, half man), while a great light lit-up the night sky, and visited Heaven and Hell also Beit al-Saada and Beit al-Shaqaa (House of Happiness and House of Misery) and then descended back to Mecca.…”

Read it all.

What would happen if Ahmadinejad bombed/nuked Israel? What would China do? What would Russia do? Europe? Indonesia? The Norks? (the perfect term for N.Korea and that pug rat Kim Jong Il?) What about all of the terrorists and terror cells around the world? Would the floodgates open up with consant rampant terror attacks taking place worldwide? Or would cooler heads prevail.

What scares me is Ahmadinejad's constant reminding of wiping Israel off the map, his obsession with Armegeddon and with the August 22nd date.

What if Ahmadinejad does nothing on August 22. Will he be seen as a blowhard and lose face? Or was this date given by him just a coincidence?

A Very Cool Story

Our CFO is a gentleman named Bill MacFarland who is 72 years old, a former Professional Hockey player, University of Michigan Hall of Famer and former Commissioner of the World Hockey Association. At 72, he is sharp as a tack and someone you wouldn't want to tangle with, he's the epitome of a big, tough hockey player.

We played golf a while back at a nice course here in Phoenix and we had a single that joined us. This guy rode with Bill in the golf cart for the entire 18 holes. When we were done playing, we had a beer, we wre talking and the guy asked Bill where he was from. Bill told him he was from Seattle. The guy said he was from Seattle as well and really loved hockey. In fact he told us that when he was a young kid, he and his friend would go to the hockey arena to watch the Seattle Totems practice and play and that his favorite hockey player was Bill MacFarland. He liked Bill because Bill was known as "The Enforcer", let's just say he lost very few Hockey fights, he could put the hurt on.

Bill didn't say a word...... but my buddy and I did. Bill pulled out his drivers license and some old photos he had in his wallet to verify who he was. This guy flipped! He immediately went to the Pro Shop and bought hats to have Bill autograph as well as the scorecard. Not a real newsworthy post, but nice story to share.

Hizballah: The New Nazi's

Hitler murdered 6 Million Jews in Germany, guess how many Jews are in present day Israel?

Six Million.

Looks like the Nazi's are back as Muslims preaching the Islam idealogy of hate and death.

Debbie Schlussel has it here.

What Did You Expect?

THIS is funny.

Today in History.....July 27

On this day in …

1789, Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs, the forerunner of the Department of State

1794, French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre was overthrown and placed under arrest; he was executed the following day


1861, Union Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac

1866, Cyrus W. Field finally succeeded, after two failures, in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe

1953, the Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of fighting

1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Nixon's impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a "course of conduct" designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case
1980, on day 267 of the Iranian hostage crisis, the deposed Shah of Iran died at a military hospital outside Cairo, Egypt, at age 60


1995, the Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington by President Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam

1996, terror struck the Atlanta Olympics as a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring 111. (Anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph later pleaded guilty to the bombing.)

2005, NASA said a sizable chunk of foam insulation came flying off the shuttle Discovery's fuel bank during liftoff, prompting the space agency to ground future shuttle flights until the problem could be fixed. ALSO: Iraq's most feared terror group said it had killed two kidnapped Algerian diplomats.
AND: Ahmed Ressam, a practitioner of that "religion of peace" and an Algerian, who'd plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium, was sentenced to 22 years in prison by a judge in Seattle. India's financial capital, Bombay, was paralyzed by the strongest rains ever recorded in the nation

Have You Seen Hillary's Bust?

Due to work priorities, I rarely ever get to hear Rush Limbaugh, but I did get a chance to hear him today.

Rush has this on Hillary's bust.

"Artist Daniel Edwards describes this new sculpture as capturing Clinton 'with her head held high, a youthful spirit and a face matured by wisdom. Presented in a low-cut gown..."

Youthful spirit???? She looks rather close to a 90 year old emaciated woman who just finished a dog paddle session in the pool.

Not a good choice there Hillary.



try this link:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/
site_072606/content/rush_on_a_roll.guest.html

Today in History.....July 26

On this day in …

1775, Benjamin Franklin became Postmaster-General

1908, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief Examiner was renamed the Bureau of Investigation, and in 1935 it became the Federal Bureau of Investigation


1941, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt seizes all Japanese assets in the United States in retaliation for the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China

1945, in the 11th hour of World War II, Winston Churchill is forced to resign as British prime minister following his party's electoral defeat by the Labour Party. It was the first general election held in Britain in more than a decade. The same day, Clement Attlee, the Labour leader, was sworn in as the new British leader

1947, President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act, which becomes one of the most important pieces of Cold War legislation. The act established much of the bureaucratic framework for foreign policymaking for the next 40-plus years of the Cold War

1952, King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser
1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal


1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Fla.

1986, Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon, practitioners of that "religion of peace", released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months

2005, America's manned space program roared back to life with the launch of Discovery, 2 1/2 years after the Columbia disaster. ALSO: Six nations resumed nuclear disarmament talks that North Korea had boycotted for 13 months, but little progress was made.

Iranian Pres. AhmaGeddon.....

MEMRI has it here.......if that link doesn't work, try this http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD121206

Excerpt:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "In my opinion, Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity. Everyone must be put to the test. Everyone. It is inconceivable for anyone who calls himself a Muslim and who heads an Islamic state to maintain relations under the table with the regime that occupied Jerusalem. He cannot take pleasure in the [Israeli] killing of Muslims yet present himself as a Muslim. This is inconceivable, and must be exposed. Allah willing, it will. You will see.

It is short, only 5 paragraphs, read it.

The Norks May Have Helped Iran Test Sea-Going Scud

Early Warning.

Western intelligence agencies are concerned that North Korea may have helped Iran to test-launch a sea-going Scud missile.

Got this from The Man, here.

The short-range missile is believed to have been successfully fired from the deck of an Iranian cargo ship.

Although Scuds carry conventional explosives, the missile was originally developed for the purpose of carrying a nuclear warhead. The ability to use a mobile, sea-going platform would mean that Tehran need not seek long-range missiles to attack distant targets. The Iranians--or their terrorist proxies--could mount short-range missiles on civilian ships, and launch them from sea, near the coastlines of the United States or Israel.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has referred to an attack by a ship-launched ballistic missile as one of the most serious security threats facing the US. Thousands of cargo ships move through US waters every day. If a Scud-B missile armed with a nuclear warhead were to hit a major port city, such as Los Angeles, or Long Beach, California, tens of thousands of people would be killed and injured.

Iran is also said to be working out the technical issues for firing a longer-range Shahab 3 or 6 missile from a cargo ship.

Western analysts are also worried that Iran or North Korea could eventually have the capability to detonate a nuclear weapon at high altitude to create an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, along with radiation and blast effects. Experts say an EMP weapon detonated high in the earth's atmosphere over America's Midwest region could cause catastrophic damage to the country's infrastructure, destroying 70 percent of the electrical grid and computer systems for finance, transportation, and emergency services.

Today in History.....July 25

On this day in …

1832, the first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history occurs when four people are thrown off a vacant car on the Granite Railway near Quincy, Massachusetts. One man was killed and the others were seriously injured.

1866, Ulysses S. Grant was named General of the Army, the first officer to hold the rank

1868, Congress passed an act creating the Wyoming Territory
1917, Mata Hari, the archetype of the seductive female spy, is sentenced to death in France for spying on Germany's behalf


1943, Benito Mussolini was dismissed as premier of Italy by King Victor Emmanuel III, and placed under arrest. (However, Mussolini was later rescued by the Nazis, ym"sh, and re-asserted his authority.)

1946, the United States detonated an atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific in the first underwater test of the device

1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States

1963, the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain initialed a treaty in Moscow prohibiting the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in space or underwater

1978, Louise Joy Brown, the first "test tube baby," was born in Oldham, England; she'd been conceived through the technique of in-vitro fertilization


1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old formal state of war


1996, divers searching the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, N.Y., recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorder


2000, a New York-bound Air France Concorde crashed outside Paris shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four people on the ground; it was the first-ever crash of the supersonic jet

Reason #538 Why I Despise Hillary "Ankles" Clinton

Ankles? Yes, as in fat ankles, try wearing a dress one of these days......better yet, don't, those stumps you use for legs look better covered.

Clinton, the likely 2008 Democratic White House front-runner, ponied up nearly $3,000 in campaign cash for her blond tresses to get some presidential pampering from acclaimed D.C. stylist Isabelle Goetz.

Recently released federal fund-raising records show Clinton shelled out $1,500 in April for Goetz to carefully craft her coiffure and another $1,000 for a camera-ready clip in May.

To read the rest, go here:
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/hillary_gathers_an_ar
my_nationalnews_ian_b ishop___post_correspondent.htm

If you don't go to the link, I don't blame you.

When It's 118 degrees in Phoenix......

....you sort of crave one..........or more, of these babies:

THE PALOMA
2 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Grapefruit Soda
1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
Sprite
Build over ice in a tall (Collins or Hurricane) glass with a salted rim, that's optional.
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Shoes must be off, ankles crossed, on either a table or an ottoman. Man, can't wait to get home!

Folks, this is one refreshing, cool drink.

For constant updates on the wars, go to IsraellyCool, great stuff, besides, this cat is an Aussie.

And this pretty much sums up the strategies of the good guys vs the evil guys......


H/T Jawa Report

Today in History.....July 24

On this day in …

1866, Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War

1929, President Hoover proclaimed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which renounced war as an instrument of foreign policy

1943, British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own "Blitz Week."

1959, During the grand opening ceremony of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev engage in a heated debate about capitalism and communism in the middle of a model kitchen set up for the fair. The so-called "kitchen debate" became one of the most famous episodes of the Cold War.

1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts -- two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon -- splashed down safely in the Pacific. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon had its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

1974, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor

1975, an Apollo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, completing a mission which included the first-ever docking with a Soyuz capsule from the Soviet Union


1996, two bombs blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a commuter train near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 64 civilians and wounding more than 400


2002, nine coal miners were trapped in a flooded mine in western Pennsylvania; the story ended happily three days later with the rescue of all nine

Let's Try These Immigration Laws

While partaking in extreme relaxation at my sister's/bro-in-law's pad in Minnesota, I was reading Rush's publication, "The Limbaugh Letter" and read his own proposal for U.S. immigration policy, he writes (read the whole thing, especially the end):

* If you want to immigrate, you must speak the language. No bilingual anything. No Spanish-English classrooms. No translated government documents - including ballots.

* Foreigner's won't be allowed to vote, or hold political office. They can't hold seats in either house of Congress. They'll also be banned from state legislatures, the Supreme Court, all governorships, and many town councils.

* The Constitution will reserve almost all federal posts, and any position in the military and merchant marine, for the "native born".

* Non-natives will not be permitted to be firefighters, police, or judges.

* Only professionals or investors will be allowed in.

* Even professionals will still need to be sponsored by a home-grown company. Investors must invest in the economy at lest 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.

* Immigrants can't receive welfare, food stamps, or any other government benefits. The taxpayers won't carry you.

* You may buy land, but no waterfront. As a foreigner, you relinquish individual rights to the property.

* No politicking whatsoever. Immigrants may not participate in demonstrations or political organizing. Foreigners may not criticize the government or wave foreign flags.

* Citizenship will be granted to 3,000 immigrants a year, period.

What do you think? I think that if America were to adopt a single one of these "Limbaugh Laws" as policy, official México would go loco. Just last month the Méxican government threatened to sue our government - in our courts - if our National Guard detains illegals on our soil!

But the truth is, these are not Rush's laws. The list just cited comes from the government of México itself!

Talk about a double standard!

Hangin' With The "Peeps" on Vacation

Just returned from a great trip in upper Minnesota, first off, I guess you could say that I left to go on vacation at the wrong time!

Well, now is the time for the liberals who oppose the war in Iraq yet were for the removal of terrorists in Afghanistan to show their true colors.

Hezbollah = Terrorists
Israel = Free nation

Enough said...... support by the liberals for Hezbollah will only prove that they hate President George Bush more than the terrorists, and that is beyond scary! As I have said before, this is just a fascinating time in world history we are experiencing.
Minnesota State Senator Carrie Ruud
I had a tremendous time in Minnesota with my 9 year old son, water skiing, tubing, hiking......didn't get a moose........but I got a beaver skin! Even did a home made frame job with a big birch branch, some leather shoe strings and some feathers! Looks nice on my son's wall in his bedroom.

I had the opportunity to hang out with a very good friend (20+ years) of my older sister and her husband, she is Minnesota State Senator Carrie Ruud and her husband, what great people! Of course, they are true-blue red, white and blue Conservative Republicans, went on a pontoon boat ride with them, knocked back a cold one or two and then to their house for a few hours to figure out how we're going to knock the crap out of evil and eliminate current liberal idealogy! Life is good.

The Mrs. and 3 kids are off to the magical land of Tequila, Jalisco, México tonight for 3 weeks to visit the family.....wish I could go this time, but the work load is heavy......and that is good, may catch them for the final week, but I doubt it. More posting in monday.

Today in History....July 21

On this day in …

1861, the first Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, Va., resulting in a Confederate victory

1944, American forces landed on Guam during World War II
1949, the U.S. Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty

1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into northern and southern entities

1955, during the Geneva summit, President Eisenhower presented his "open skies" proposal under which the U.S. and the Soviet Union would trade information on each other's military facilities

1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin blasted off from the moon aboard the lunar module


1980, draft registration began in the United States for 19- and 20-year-old men

1996, dozens of memorial services were held across the country to remember the 230 people lost in the crash of TWA Flight 800


2000, Special Counsel John C. Danforth concluded "with 100 percent certainty" that the federal government was innocent of wrongdoing in the siege that killed 80 members of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993. ALSO: Group of 8 leaders met for an economic summit on the Japanese island of Okinawa, where President Clinton also sought to soothe long-simmering tensions over the huge American military presence


2001, street battles raged for a second day in Genoa, Italy, site of a Group of Eight meeting, despite pleas for calm from protest leaders and global summit leaders alike


2005, terrorists attempt to attack the London transit system by planting bombs on three subways and on one bus; none of the bombs detonate completely. The attempted attack came exactly two weeks after terrorists killed 56 people, including themselves, and wounded 700 others in the largest attack on Great Britain since World War II. The previous attack also targeted three subways and one bus

In Vacation Mode

Flying out at the crack of dawn mañana for Pequot Lakes area, Minnesota, returning July 20th, may have an occassional post, especially if I catch any Grizz or Moose! ;-) More like walleye, northern pike and some sunnies!

¡Adíos amigos!

Quote of the Day

Uncle Ted Rocks.

Rock Star Ted Nugent was being interviewed by a British journalist. The journalist asked,"What do you think the last thought is in the mind of a deer before you shoot it? Is it, `Are you my friend?` or is it `Are you the one who killed my brother?'"

Nugent replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very much like the French."

China, the NorKs, Iran and Chavez

First off, them 'thar Asians sure have some funny/great slang names......but I won't go there.

There's a major chess match going on in the world and I've got an uneasy feeling about China, just read an interview with one very smart guy, Jed Babbin by Jamie Glazov at Front Page Mag.com. Mr. Babbin has a new book just out, Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States. here's an excerpt from the interview:

FP: Fair enough, but how exactly is China a threat to us?

Babbin: China is a threat to us because it is a direct threat to all our allies and interests in the Pacific. Our main Pacific ally, Japan, is directly in China's path. South Korea, Taiwan and every other nation we have alliances with in the region are in China's way. More immediately, China has chosen the wrong side in the war on terror. It's very closely allied with Iran and is a major trading partner of every state sponsor of terrorism. While they bolster the terrorist nations, it's much harder for us to defeat them.

FP: The alliance with Iran is truly troubling. Tell us a bit about the unholy alliance between Communist China and radical Islam.

Babbin: Iran sells China a lot of oil. In return, China is training, equipping and helping arm Iran's military. Along with Russia, they have aided Iran's nuclear weapons program. In other nations -- Syria for instance -- China is allying itself with the Islamic radicals. I won't go so far as to say that they are actually allied with radical Islam itself because I don't really believe it. China's ideology is communism. Radical Islam (which is an ideology, not a religion) isn't compatible. I think it'd be a mistake to say that China is allied with radical Islam. It is, however, allied with the terrorist nations.

FP: How does China fit into the North Korean nuclear menace?

Babbin: North Korea is a client state of China. The Kim Jong-il regime would not be doing what it is without China's permission. They may even be spurring Kim on. North Korea is utterly dependent on China for food. If China wanted to stop the missile launches, it could.

Then we just found out that China again rejects NK resolution by the U.N.

Then Latin American sources report that China is engaged in covert talks with oil-rich Venezuela to cut crude exports to the United States, increase shipments to Beijing--and begin selling oil to its impoverished ally, North Korea.

China is the world's second largest oil-consuming nation after the US, which buys around 18 percent of its oil from Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil-producing nation.

Venezuela's populist president Hugo Chavez, an avowed enemy of the US, recently announced plans to visit North Korea in late July. Chavez also intends to visit Russia and Iran.

And it has been been reported that an oil-for-arms deal is in the works, involving North Korean conventional weapons, missiles--and, incredible as it may seem, maybe even an atomic bomb--under cover of a pending "strategic alliance" and a so-called science and technology cooperation agreement.

Should Chavez and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il dare to deal in missiles and nukes it would constitute the biggest threat to US national security from a Western Hemisphere nation since the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, when the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear conflict.

Nearly 44 years later, a crisis caused by Cuban ally Venezuela teaming with Stalinist North Korea could trigger a new kind of Cold War--with China. In the wake of North Korea's provocative missile tests and nuclear threats, Washington would not hesitate to blame Beijing for allowing a Pyongyang-Caracas axis to develop.

In fact, relations between North Korea and Venezuela have been warming dramatically. Senior Venezuelan government officials have made statements in support of North Korea's missile tests, and high-level North Korean political and trade officials--and intelligence officers--have visited Venezuela. In May, a delegation of Venezuelan foreign ministry officials visited Pyongyang, just a month after Caracas opened its first-ever embassy there.

Chavez, who proudly considers himself a protege of Cuba's Communist dictator Fidel Castro, is also forging an alliance with another Chinese ally, oil-rich Iran, which is engaged in a nuclear enrichment standoff with the West.

Energy-starved China has tried to downplay deepening ties to Venezuela. While increasingly interested in the South American country's oil--including the huge, untapped heavy crude deposits of the Orinoco River belt--Beijing is concerned that relations with Chavez could needlessly antagonize Washington and hamper efforts by Chinese state-run companies to secure supplies of oil and other raw materials in a region historically considered within the US sphere of influence.

Yowsa.

You Call This Thug A Leader??

The man, Aleksander Boyd at VCrisis is back and up and running, he reports this:

• Without further ado: homicides in Venezuela jumped 128% for the period 1998-2005.
• Violent deaths for unknown reasons in Venezuela increased 74% for the period 1998-2005.
• Homicides caused by firearms in Venezuela augmented 36% for the period 1998-2005.
• Kidnaps have increased 426% in Venezuela for the period 1998-2005.
• Deaths by shootings have risen 253% in Venezuela for the period 1998-2005.
• 44 homicides take place every day in Venezuela, that is 1 every half an hour.
• 32.932 deaths for unknown reasons have been registered in Venezuela since 1998. These deaths do not make part of the total of homicides for the period.
• Venezuela overtook Colombia in homicide numbers.
• The number of homicides in Venezuela is greater than the number of casualties in some modern armed conflicts.
• Since 1986 154.895 homicides have occured in Venezuela.
• 8.976 extrajudicial killings have been registered in Venezuela since 1999.
• 86.7% of homicides in Venezuela were caused by firearms, a variation of 36% since 1998.
• Homicide is the first cause of death in Venezuela for both genders in the age group 15-29.
• in 2004 only 7% of those involved in homicides have been sentenced.
• Figures of deaths due to "resisting authority" in Venezuela have increased 254% (national level) and 791% in Caracas for the period 1999-2004. The civilian/police ratio of deaths is 39:1 in Venezuela; 10:1 in Brazil the international standard being 5:1.
• Only 1.4% of police officers involved in extrajudicial killings have been sentenced in Venezuela during the period 2000-2005.
• The homicide rate in Venezuelan prisons is 40 times higher than that of the country and 36 times higher than that of Brazil's, Argentina's, Mexico's and Colombia's prisons combined.
• Caracas' homicide rates are the second in the South American continent.
• The Chavez regime military expenditure is 80 times higher than its expenditure on the Ministry of Interior and Justice, which is in charge of procurement for Venezuelan police forces.
• Venezuela's per capita expenditure in military acquisitions is larger than that of Brazil and Colombia.
Sources: CIPCC, PROVEA, MSDS.
Original PDF in Spanish here.

Today in History.....July 12

On this day in …

1810, the United States' young trade union movement was put to the test on this day in 1810, as the New York branch of the Journeymen Cordwainers began a trial that potentially imperiled their ability to go on strike

1861, special commissioner Albert Pike completes treaties with the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes, giving the new Confederate States of America several allies in Indian Territory. Some members of the tribes also fought for the Confederacy. ALSO: Wild Bill Hickok begins to establish his reputation as a gunfighter after he coolly shoots three men during a shootout in Nebraska

1862, Congress authorized the Medal of Honor

1933, the U.S. minimum wage was set at 40 cents an hour

1943, tone of the greatest clashes of armor in military history takes place as the German offensive against the Russian fortification at Kursk, a Russian railway and industrial center, is stopped in a devastating battle, marking the turning point in the Eastern front in the Russians' favor

1977, President Carter defended Supreme Court decisions limiting government payments for poor women's abortions, saying, "There are many things in life that are not fair."

1985, just two days after Mikhail Gorbachev was re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, announces his resignation from the Party. Yeltsin's action was a serious blow to Gorbachev's efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together

1995, President Clinton spelled out school-prayer guidelines, asserting the First Amendment already guaranteed adequate freedom of religion

1996, the House voted overwhelmingly to define marriage in federal law as a legal union of one man and one woman --- no matter what states might say

2005, Mohammed Bouyeri, a practitioner of that "religion of peace", on trial in the slaying of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, unexpectedly confessed in court, saying he was driven by religious conviction. (Bouyeri was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.)

Castro Dead?

Probably not, but if so, who said 7-11 isn't a lucky number?
Keep 'em crossed.

Light blogging = heavy workload = cramming things in before Joe Gringo and the 9 year old whipper snapper take off thursday for a week for a Father/Son jaunt up to the land of 10,000 lakes.

Today in History.....July 11

On this day in …

1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band

1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in Weehawken, N.J.

1864, Confederate forces led by Gen. Jubal Early began an abortive invasion of Washington, D.C., turning back the next day

1934, President Franklin Roosevelt became the first chief executive to travel through the Panama Canal

1955, the U.S. Air Force Academy was dedicated at its temporary quarters, Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado

1980, American hostage Richard I. Queen, held hostage by practitioners of that "religion of peace" in Iran, was finally freed after eight months of captivity because of poor health

1995, the United States normalized relations with Vietnam

2001, the Democratic-led Senate voted to bar coal mining and oil and gas drilling on federally protected land in the West, dealing a fresh blow to President Bush's energy production plans

Is The USA A Prosperous Country? Hell Yes Neighbor......Try Adding $2.2 TRILLION In GDP.

A Smokin' econony, but who knew? You've got to dig deep to find any positive news the Bush administration has produced.

This from former Reagan economic adviser Larry Kudlow at over at Real Clear Politics........ The Big-Bang Story of US Private Business


Did you know that just over the past 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003 Bush tax cuts, America has increased the size of its entire economy by 20 percent? In less than three years, the U.S. economic pie has expanded by $2.2 trillion, an output add-on that is roughly the same size as the total Chinese economy, and much larger than the total economic size of nations like India, Mexico, Ireland, and Belgium.

This is an extraordinary fact, although you may be reading it here first. Most in the mainstream media would rather tout the faults of American capitalism than sing its praises. And of course, the media will almost always discuss supply-side tax cuts in negative terms, such as big budget deficits and static revenue losses. But here's another suppressed fact: Since the 2003 tax cuts, tax-revenue collections from the expanding economy have been surging at double-digit rates while the deficit is constantly being revised downward.

Amazing.

Today in History.....July 10

On this day in …

* 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency, following the death of President Taylor

* 1919, President Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate, and urged its ratification

* 1951, tarmistice talks aimed at ending the Korean conflict began at Kaesong

* 1973, the Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British colonial rule

* 1985, bowing to pressure from irate customers, Coca-Cola Co. said it would resume selling old-formula Coke, while continuing to sell New Coke

* 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic

* 1996, in a tough speech to the U.S. Congress laying out conditions for Mideast negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Syria and the Palestinians stop terrorists from attacking Israel

* 2001, for the second time in a month, a jury in New York rejected the death penalty for one of the men convicted in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, opting instead for life in prison without parol

Today in History.....July 7

On this day in …

* 1846, U.S. annexation of California was proclaimed at Monterey after the surrender of a Mexican garrison

* 1865, four people were hanged in Washington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Lincoln

* 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii

* 1930, construction began on Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam)

* 1958, President Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill

* 1969, Canada's House of Commons gave final approval to a measure making the French language equal to English throughout the national government

* 1981, President Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S.
Supreme Court

* 1983, 11-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, left for a visit to the Soviet Union at the personal invitation of Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov

* 2005, suicide terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 victims and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II. (The United States put its subways, buses and commuter trains on high alert amid concern about a possible copycat attack.)

Were The México Elections Important?

Damn straight they were.

The last thing the United States needs is another America hating leftist government in Latin America, especially as our next door neighbor.

It's darn near official, Felipe Calderón wins, and that is good, unless the loser, López Obrador, successfully stages a nationwide revolt. Should there be protests, he is certainly slapping the face of all Méxicans, by not accepting defeat, he is obstructing his own country's progress and doing this to satisfy his large ego. What is it anyway with the left when they lose anyway? We had Gore, Kerry and now México has Gore-brador!

Had AMLO, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, won, his policies, like most socialist regimes would most assuredly have increased poverty with its redistribution of wealth to the poor.

Calderón now has the opportunity to pick up where Vicente Fox left off, or rather tried to get things started. Fox (PAN) was in a rather difficult situation, the Congress in México was dominated by the PRI party which made it rather difficult to get anything accomplished. If you recall, just before 9-11, México was a hot topic and Fox was seen as the new hope for his country and praised for his close relationship with GW Bush, but after the terrorists/murderers crashed the planes in the World Trade Center, all things México were put on the back burner.

There's a lot of potential for México, they have a lot of oil, mining goods of gold and silver, lumber and natural gas. They have a population that is definitely not afraid of work, 10% of their population resides in the US, working in just about any jobs they can to support families back home, that is an excellent resource. Check this stat out.........Méxican born men living in the United States have the highest labor force participation, some 94% are working, compare that to 46% among comparebly educated whites and 40% among blacks with less than a high school education, that is huge.

The 45 years of age and under population knows and sees the benefits of a capitalistic society and elected the man they believe can get them there or at least get the ball rolling. I think the Méxican people can see the light with what they have, now they jsut need to rid itself of the corruption and the lame-ass bureaucrats so they can progress forward.

Calderón winning is a very good thing for México and the United States.

Besides......I go there a lot...... and being a tall, blond white guy from the United States the last thing I need is to be harrassed and be referred to as an evil capitalistic pig.

Zarqawi.........Meet Your First 5, You've 67 More To Come

This from Gates of Vienna.....

Today in History.....July 6

On this day in …

* 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga

* 1854, the first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Mich.

* 1917, during World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks

* 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed

* 1945, President Truman signed an executive order establishing the Medal of Freedom

* 1945, Nicaragua became the first nation to formally accept the United Nations Charter

* 1967, the Biafran War erupted. (The war, which lasted 2 1/2 years, claimed some 600,000 lives.)

* 1989, the U.S. Army destroyed its last Pershing 1A missiles at an ammunition plant in Karnack, Texas, under terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty

* 2001, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to 15 criminal counts and agreed to give a full accounting of his spying activities for Moscow. ALSO: The United States turned over to Japanese authorities an American serviceman accused of rape. (Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Woodland was convicted of rape and sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.)

* 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA operative's name (Miller was jailed for 85 days before agreeing to testify)

Little Man's Disease

Hey loser, nice missile deployment.

Next time you want to fire off some rockets, pick a different day, sending our Space Shuttle into space for a few weeks and celebrating our nation's independence on the same day with massive fireworks display all across our country kind of made you look like the little goof ball dweeb with a big mouth that you are.

Got a kick out of this one.

Did you know that this pint sized, plastic charm bracelet figurine look-a-like possesses the largest collection of pornography in the world? That, according to the CIA.

Anyway, Kim Jong Il ignored the biggies involved here, the US, Japan and China. You'd think that China would have had the nads to make sure Kim Jong Il would refrain from firing off any missiles, either they failed to pursuade him or China fooled the US and Japan into thinking they were trying.

Maybe their failure was on purpose, maybe China wants to keep North Korea as a buffer between China and US friend / South Korea.

Now that we're close to nailing down things in Iraq, what about Iran? It is pretty well known that China's massive espansion has left it with a huge need for energy / oil and indications are that China is supporting Iran and Iran is looking for them to lead them into some serious strategery with regards to a nuclear standoff with the US / West.

According to reports in Israel's leading paper Haaretz, China has developed a close working relationship with Hamas helping them to control the Gaza district and parts of the West Bank. And it has been reported that some Israeli analysts suspect China of making substantial cash payments to Hamas foreign minister Mahmud al-Zahar; and a veteran Chinese intelligence officer, Gong Xiasheng, is suspected of providing covert aid to Hamas from his West Bank base in Ramallah. Gong is a Division 8 Minister of State Security (MSS) officer attached to the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an MSS think tank and espionage arm.

The Axis of Evil, one down, two more to go.

Today in History.....July 5

On this day in …

* 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain

* 1935, President Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which provided for a National Labor Relations Board, and authorized labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining

* 1940, during World War II, Britain and the Vichy government in France broke diplomatic relations

* 1954, Elvis Presley's first commercial recording session took place at Sun Records in Memphis, Tenn.; the song he recorded was "That's All Right (Mama)."

* 1975, the Cape Verde Islands officially became independent after 500 years of Portuguese rule

* 1991, a worldwide financial scandal erupted as regulators in eight countries shut down the Bank of Credit and Commerce International

* 2000, at the United Nations, President Clinton signed an international agreement to ban the forcible recruitment of youths as soldiers in armed conflict, and a companion accord to protect children from being forced into slavery, prostitution and pornography. ALSO: The U.N. Security Council imposed a diamond ban on Sierra Leone's rebels in a bid to strangle their ability to finance a civil war

July 4th - Happy 230th!

To the greatest nation on God's green earth! (as Michael Medved says)

Also, Joe Gringo's oldest sister was born on July 4th, and, by the way, will be heading up to the Pequot Lakes area in upper Minnesota July 13th-20th to stay with her, husband Jerry & 2 their kids at their house/cabin on the lake to fish, water ski, camp, hunt Moose (not really hunt moose, sounded good though) and bar hop ......in their boat!

The Nazi Roots of Islamofascism

Via Tiger Hawk,

If you are not familiar with the links, both actual and ideological, between Nazi Germany and today's Islamic fascists -- whether nationalistic or jihadi -- WILLisms' Kyle McCracken spells them out for you. With pictures.

Europeans claim to wonder why average Americans have such a hard time supporting the Palestinian Arabs in their struggle against Israel. They are so mystified, they often assume insidious forces are at work to distort the normal operation of American democracy. Alternatively, Europeans may -- deep down in places they don't talk about over camembert -- believe that for certain peoples, at certain times, fascism is understandable and appropriate. They did, after all, invent it.

México Elections......It's TIGHT And Will Get Ugly

But it looks like the Good Guys have the slight edge!

Great article from political genius Michael Barone at Real Clear Politics
...... Mexico: One of the Most Electrifying Election Nights Ever.


Legend:
Calderon - PAN = Good
Madrazo - PRI = Bad
Obrador - PRD = Worse

Via Mark in Mexico:


Monday, July 03, 2006
Mexico presidential election: Calderon probable winner

UPDATED BELOW:

Here are the results from the vote counting as of 7:30 am this morning. You can visit the live-blogging post to watch how this developed through the night. Please remember that these totals, while official, are not yet certified. "Official" means that the figures are released by the IFE, Mexico's federal election bureau. As the IFE continually releases these vote count results, it issues this warning:
La alteración de estos resultados es delito federal
That means that once the media and all other interested parties receive these numbers from the IFE, those parties may not alter the figures and then publicize them. That's a no-no.

Results as of 7:30 am:

% reporting: 93.46
turnout: 59%

President
PAN (Calderon): 13,590,549 -- 36.59%
PRD (AMLO: 13,180,294 -- 35.48%
PRI (Madrazo): 7,881,780 -- 21.22%
annulled votes: 780,302

Senate
PAN: 34.12%
PRD: 29.84%
PRI: 27.12%

Diputados (House)
PAN: 33.89
PRD: 29.08
PRI: 27.36

The annulled vote total is extemely high. 780,000 votes have been annulled for one reason or another and the difference between the Calderon and AMLO vote totals is only a bit more than 400,000. There probably will be some chit-chat between the two sides over this issue.

What is most striking so far is that the PRI, the political force that ruled Mexico for 70 odd years, failed to win a single state in the presidential election. Not one. The PRI is far from toothless, however. The party still won 27% of the Chamber of Deputies (the Mexican House turns over 100% each election and House members may not stand for reelection).

It will be several days before the results are certified by the IFE and it remains to be seen how the PRD aficionados react if their man Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is not declared the winner. They'll probably blame Bush. There will be some problems in the streets. How many problems and how serious it will get remains to be seen.

I'll update this post with events as they occur throughout the day.

UPDATE 8:30 am: Well, it's starting. Based upon what I have seen and heard this morning, this is going to get nasty and AMLO is the demagogue that his political opponents have been portraying him to be.

He just concluded an interview with Televisa where he claims he has won and will not accept any other result. He said, unbelievably, "Go to the IFE and see the results. They have declared me the winner." That's not even close to the truth. The IFE's results show that Calderon leads AMLO by about 1.5 percent of the vote and the IFE is not declaring anyone the winner and will not until at least Wednesday. Calderon has been forced to respond. Calderon also suggests visiting the IFE where the federal elections board has him with a 1.5 percent lead over AMLO. That is true.

AMLO is stoking the fires of a popular revolt, ala Chavez.

That popular revolt has already manifested itself in Oaxaca. The president of the state's IFE has been kidnapped by some striking teachers' union members. They are accusing him of changing vote totals to benefit the PRI. In addition, some of the votes here in the capitol city of Oaxaca de Juarez were taken to the headquarters of the Policia Preventiva so they could be counted in a secure environment. The teachers attacked the PP headquarters and took votes, election officials and police as hostages. I don't know where those people are now.

You can rest assured that, if someone doesn't convince AMLO to shut his mouth, this is going to get nastier yet. One has to understand the reaction of the PRD rank-and-file, in spite of the irresponsibility of their standard bearer. They had the 1988 presidential election stolen from them, they are hunted down and murdered in the valley's and high sierrras of the Mexican countryside, they have seen their lot in life go from bad to worse to hopeless, they have had their hard earned pesos stolen from them by a parade of corrupt politicians acting in concert with wealthy land and business owners and on and on. And all of this has been taking place since the early 1500's when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. That's 500 years of suppression and abuse.

On the other hand, however, there are millions of others who have placed their fate in the hands of the PAN or the PRI and don't deserve to have their lives made more miserable than they already are by firebrand revolutionaries. When was the last revolution you can think of where the winners made real changes to the political environment and bettered people's lives -- changes that still exist today? Ask yourself that same question tomorrow. You'll have to count back 226 years.

There is also the possibility that AMLO is seeking a major payoff to go quietly into the night. I would not discount this idea too much. However, I don't see the PAN or the PRI scraping up enough money to buy him off.

Today in History.....July 3

On this day in …

* 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.

* 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated

* 1898, the U.S. Navy defeated a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War

* 1930, Congress created the U.S. Veterans Administration

* 1976, Israel launched its daring mission to rescue about 100 passengers and Air France crew members being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers

* 1986, President Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty

* 1996, Russians went to the polls to re-elect Boris Yeltsin president over his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov

* 2001, flashing the defiance that marked his 13 years in power, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a U.N. tribunal at The Hague

* 2005, a NASA space probe, Deep Impact, hit its comet target as planned in a mission to learn how the solar system formed. Saudi security forces killed Moroccan Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, the al-Qaida terrorist group's leader in the country, during a gun battle in Riyadh