That is what you would think when you read this story's headline: "US Studies Hezbollah to Prepare Troops". Reading the article puts a very different spin on the story and should have led to a very different headline.

The story's third and fourth paragraphs give a much better picture than does the ignorant headline:

With the US military engaged in counter insurgency battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, concerns have been raised that it is no longer prepared to effectively fight enemies using conventional tactics.

To counter this, the newspaper reported, the US has sent more than a dozen teams to Israel to interview military officers who fought against Hezbollah in 2006 to glean as much information about their tactics as possible.

American Military leaders are not studying Hezbollah as much as they are studying Israeli tactics in that nation's fight against Hezbollah. This article's headline continues the fiction that Hezbollah was militarily successful in 2006. In fact, Hezbollah suffered major losses when Israel decided to fight back, and the only thing that kept Hezbollah vermin alive to fight another day was interference from Islamo-Nazi appeasing bureaucrats in Europe and the American State Department.

Of course, no headline writer, trained at an "elite" college or university journalism program, would have been caught dead writing more truthful headline such as, "US Studies Israeli Military to Prepare Troops".

In August of 2008 some folks knew that Obama was not the Great Orator his sycophantic propaganda machine the Main Stream Media was telling us he was. Check this out from days gone by:



And it seems that he hasn't got any better at life without the 'prompter.

  "Kozienice, Poland (Appeasement Press) In an example of the the new administration's diplomatic efforts addressing the growing tensions in Europe, Pres. Roosevelt's Secretary of State, visiting with Poland's Prime Minister, declared that militia forces of the National Socialist German Worker's Party were acting  "out of desperation" from lack of development and poverty. "They should be offered an honorable form of reconciliation and reintegration into a peaceful society, if they are willing to abandon violence, break with [more radical elements of the Nazi Party], and support the constitution," the Secretary of State said in reference to the German militants."

The quotes above did not come from an American Secretary of State in the run up to WWII (though the Secretary of State at that time comes close in a Statement written on July 5th, 1940). They are, however, coming from President Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today.

One day after declaring that the phrase "Global War on Terror" is inoperative in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, Sec. Clinton declared that the Taliban "should be offered an honorable form of reconciliation and reintegration into a peaceful society, if they are willing to abandon violence, break with al Qaida, and support the constitution."



So this kind of behavior is motivated by "desperation" from lack of development and poverty?

 

And the Obama administration thinks we can have "an honorable from of reconciliation and reintegration" with these people. "My God, what were they thinking giving these people the reigns of power in Washington D.C.?" That is what future generations will be asking when they look back on the 21st Century's first decades.

At least a majority of veterans and others who visit the Military.com website, know what must be done. And speaking of the military, it is nice to see that the brave personnel in the field know how to deal with the enemy, wherever they may be hiding.

I wonder if anyone at Newsweek has read Orwell's "1984"? After this cover:
                                                               
I'm thinking that the answer to that question is ... uh ... NO!

If you have trouble or folks are laughing at you because you see a connection between Pepsi's new logo and the Obama logo. I've done some editing of the pics to help people see the connection.

The Obama Logo:

The Pepsi Logo (rotated -41 degrees):

Enough of a reason for me to never drink a Pepsi product again.

This is the kind of international cooperation I wholeheartedly endorse.

SAN'A, Yemen - Seven pirates opened fire on a German naval supply ship in the Gulf of Aden but were chased down and captured by an international anti-piracy task force, the U.S. Navy and European officials said Monday.
...
In the attack on the German ship, pirates apparently mistook German FGS Spessart [Mohammad, why is the infidel's panty-waist corporate tanker shooting back?] supply vessel for a commercial ship when they opened fire on it on Sunday afternoon, U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nate Christensen said.

The German sailors returned fire and pursued the skiff while also calling in for support. Several naval ships - including a Greek and a Dutch frigate, a Spanish warship and the USS Boxer - sped to the area while a Spanish marine aircraft and two U.S. Marine Cobra helicopters joined the pursuit.

Five hours later, Greek sailors reached the pirate skiff, boarded it and seized the seven suspects and their weapons, including assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, the Greek navy said. The suspects were disarmed and transferred for questioning to the German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz where they remain Monday, pending a decision on whether they will be legally prosecuted, Christensen said.

 

With law school deans like Yale's Harold Koh and Irvine's Erwin Chemerinsky we can expect a lot more rulings like this for years to come.

NEW YORK - A judge has given the CIA a month to begin releasing documents related to the destruction of videotapes of detainee interrogations.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court says the CIA should start turning over the information and a list of witnesses to the American Civil Liberties Union within 30 days or explain why the agency should be exempt.

The judge reviewed the CIA documents and on Friday gave the agency until April 9 to produce a schedule for releasing them.

An ongoing criminal probe is exploring why the CIA destroyed videotapes in 2005 that document new harsh questioning techniques.

The ACLU says the destruction violated Hellerstein's 2004 order to the CIA to preserve all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees.

Harold Koh will fit right in at a State Department led by Hillary Clinton (HT: Jihad Watch). Clinton declared the phrase "Global War on Terror" as inoperative and no longer applicable. Koh believes that America is equivalent to North Korea and Iraq when it comes to violating international law, and he thinks Sha'ria could govern cases in American courts.

Just one Republican voting in favor of Koh's nomination could make this radical leftist a top lawyer at the State Department and put him on the fast-track for the Supreme Court, for which many liberals have short-listed Koh. Here are some things that should absolutly disqualify this guy from this job:

Koh has called America's focus on the War on Terror "obsessive." In 2004, he listed countries that flagrantly disregard international law -- "most prominently, North Korea, Iraq, and our own country, the United States of America," which he branded "the axis of disobedience."

He has also accused President George Bush of abusing international law to justify the invasion of Iraq, comparing his "advocacy of unfettered presidential power" to President Richard Nixon's. And that was the first Bush -- Koh was attacking the 1991 operation to liberate Kuwait, four days after fighting began in Operation Desert Storm.

Koh has also praised the Nicaraguan Sandinistas' use in the 1980s of the International Court of Justice to get Congress to stop funding the Contras. Imagine such international lawyering by rogue nations like Iran, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela today, and you can see the danger in Koh's theories.

Koh, a self-described "activist," would plainly promote his views aggressively once at State. He's not likely to feel limited by the letter of the law -- in 1994, he told The New Republic: "I'd rather have [former Supreme Court Justice Harry] Blackmun, who uses the wrong reasoning in Roe [v. Wade] to get the right results, and let other people figure out the right reasoning."

At what point will these radical Left-wing views stick to Pres. Obama? Would I be out of line writing that, since Obama appointed this guy, the President thinks America, Iraq and North Korea violate international law equally? Does Pres. Obama envision cases in American courts where Sha'ria would rule rather than American jurisprudence? Aren't these questions the so-called Fourth Estate should be asking?

One more thing: As Dean of the Yale Law School this radical, anti-American, Left-wing activist is in charge of training future lawyers and judges. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared that the phrase "Global War on Terror" has been abandoned (HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch). Unfortunately, no one has gotten the Taliban in Pakistan on board with this idea.

"Baitullah Mehsud [the commander of the Pakistani Taliban], who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S., said Monday's attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.

"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone. He provided no details."

I'm, for one, am stunned that the commander of the Pakistani Taliban provided no details. I would really like to meet the reporter who talked to this guy and who floated this possible question, 'Mr. Mehsud, would you care to elaborate on that promised attack in Washington? Do you have a time frame? Specific location? What form would this attack take, Mr. Mehsud?'

What is a guy with a $5 Million bounty doing contacting or being contacted by Associated Press reporters? When might these reporters be brought up on charges of accessories after the fact for not relaying any information they have about these Islamo-Nazis to authorities (not that I would expect the Obama Administration to do much with that information, if it were provided).

First they came for the smokers, and I said nothing because I enjoy Martha’s Vineyard’s clean beach air.

Have you noticed the Media's tendency to frame Mr. Obama's head in a halo?



An Associated Press photo by Jae C. Hong:                      


Here's another Reuters photo:

                                                                                     
Another one from Reuters:                                              
   

An uncredited photo taken during the Democrat Convention
(follow the to see how the Republicans couldn't quite pull off the same trick with McCain):


I could not find a source for this photo. Maybe whoever took it was
ashamed to have his or her name attached to such blatant religiosity.


This one is attributed to the Associated Press. Proves you don't need the Presidential Seal or the Obama symbol behind The One's head in order to create a secular icon:
 

And another from the Associated Press (the link comes with a few handy tips on creating your own presidential halo effect photos):


And if you think the Drive-by Media is only doing this for 'The One' they got elected, you would, of course be wrong:
                                                    

Once again, Rueters leads the way. The First Lady as secular Madonna:


Everyone is well aware how the media has tossed out any semblance of impartiality regarding Mr. Obama and the current First Lady. But this stuff borders on the pathological. It isn't enough to keep telling everyone what a wonderful people Mr. & Mrs. Obama are, the Left has to create secular icons to accompany their stories in order to drive the point home. This is getting downright scary. I'd love anyone to show me comparable images taken by AP or Reuters of any Republican President.

Do you know where the term the Fourth Estate originated? If Wikipedia is correct, it was first used by none other than Edmund Burke (whom I've quoted elsewhere) being cited by Thomas Carlyle.

[British politician Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. (Italics added)

However, the alternative meaning, quoting Henry Fielding in the Covent Garden Journal of 1752, is just as fitting a description of today's MSM.

"None of our political writers ... take[s] notice of any more than three estates, namely, Kings, Lords, and Commons ... passing by in silence that very large and powerful body which form the fourth estate in this community ... The Mob."

These are very strange days indeed. The President of the United States oversees the biggest expansion of federal government in history and declares, "Not because I believe in bigger government - I don't."And no one in the so-called Fourth Estate bats an eye. Now the law enforcement branch of the federal government all but declares that illegal entry into this sovereign nation does not count as illegal activity.

The video below drives home the point concerning why health care costs in America are spiraling out of control. The truly damning statements come in the recording final seconds.



Here's a partial transcript of that final exchange:

Representative: When you know that they’re illegal [when] they come to your hospital, do you report them to the federal authorities to come get them?

Carol Plato (sp?), Director Corporate Business Services at Martin Memorial Medical Center: We have tried and, uhm, we have been told, on numerous occasions, that they’re only interested if a crime has been committed, and from what I understand they’re not even interested then.

Rep.: The fact that they’re illegals is not enough crime?

C. P.: Correct.

I've added a few books to my Amazon Storefront.

Why give your money to some Liberal-Left activist who dances with glee when he sees magazine covers like the Newsweek issue shown here? Support a solid conservative book lover, who wants to share his library with some like-minded folks, or some open minded liberals.

A few fiction titles, in the horror genre, have been added as well. I look forward to fulfilling your book buying needs.

When I'm able, I'll be opening my own storefront under the banner of Haunted Seas Bookshop. Currently it is an Amazon Storefront. In the months ahead ... who knows.

Images of titles added:

   

And in the fiction category:

 

I attend a weekly business networking coffee in Seattle. Today I met a seemingly personable gentleman who was surprised to see the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Seattle had two newspapers, the Seattle P-I and the Seattle Times. When I gently inquired, in the spirit of conversation, if the P-I was center-left while the Times was center-right. I had come that idea, from where I know not, and simply wanted to see if the idea was correct from a long time resident of Seattle.

The gentleman responded that he rejected the liberal/conservative divide and broke things down more by local-regional/corporate. He was surprised the P-I was failing in that, in his opinion better represented his "local-regional" ideas.

I then asked if the papers were owned by the same organization, since I did not know this fact. Mr. Local-Regional responded that the papers operated under a Joint Ownership Agreement and shared some resources, internet for example. They were owned, however by separate groups. He described the Times' owners, referring to a specific individual, whose name escapes me, as representing the "corporate" worldview.

So who is shutting down the P-I? Its owner, The Hearst Corporation, of course.

What I took from this conversation is that liberals hate corporations, unless it is a corporation mouthing liberal bromides.

I also mentioned to Mr. Local-Regional that I used to be in construction, but was laid off some time ago. My liberal-left conversant stated quite matter-of-factly that that is an industry that will not come back. Period. He then went further stating that, in his opinion, it should not come back to the levels it was once at. I then asked, "And what are all those tradesmen who've lost their jobs supposed to do?"

In typical Liberal-Left, we-really-don't-give-a-damn-about-the-little-guy fashion, my new friend shot off with, "Well, they'll just have to do something else."

"What?", I asked.

"I don't know," said Mr. Local-Regional.

Mr. Liberal-Left Local-Regional was well-heeled, he didn't have to worry about his next paycheck or feeding his family or making his mortgage. Why should he care whether or not a carpenter or plumber or electrician has work.

I then noted that he was in error about laying blame for current economic conditions solely at the feet of banks and corporations. I mentioned the Community Reinvestment Act and then it was as if he was watching a tennis, his head going back and forth. Nope, he was telling me, government had nothing to do with this. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did nothing wrong. The CRA was "a pimple"; it meant nothing.

And these are the morons in charge in Olympia, Sacramento, Detroit, New York, San Francisco and, worst of all, Washington D.C.

I smiled at Mr. Liberal-Left Local Regional, picked up my tea, gave him my business card (he wants to send my propoganda explaining why I'm wrong - at least he was honest calling it propaganda) and left. So much for that networking effort.