Kerry: Get educated or ‘get stuck in Iraq’

Democratic Sen. John Kerry warned students in a campaign speech last night that if they don’t study hard and get a good education they might “get stuck in Iraq.”

The flap about Massachusetts Dork Donk Senator John Kerry’s slam on US troops serving in Iraq, will go down in memory as one of the greatest political blunders of the decade.

Of course once the flap got started, he did a fast backpedal, and has tried to claim that it was a busted attempt at a joke. Like many good attempts at lies, there IS a germ of truth there…but the big joke is Kerry and his unpatriotic expression of anti-Americanism. (Yes – the Chief DOES question his patriotism!)

The Lord works in mysterious ways, and Kerry’s slip up looks to have a large impact on Tuesday’s election – but not the one that Kerry was trolling for when he made his remarks that left his Freudian slip hanging out.

Even better he refused to apologize at all for the remarks…so much for the standard LibDonk line about “opposing the war but supporting the troops”.

F.E.T.E.

U.S. and Sadr’s Army Look Set to Clash

“Growing tension in Baghdad may make a showdown with the Shi’ite militia inevitable”

Interesting article in Time. If this comes to pass, it’s only 2 or 3 years late…it hasn’t happened yet, but one can always hope that the horse can learn to sing.

Several closely related items from Airstrip One (formerly known as the UK) indicate that the envirowackos are fully rampant and ascendent over there.

First The Report itself:

Stern Review on the economics of climate change

The EngSoc government declared in a report from their head of their Government Economic Service (no doubt a real boffo geophysicist and meteorologist) that we are all going to hell in a basket, and that the sky is well and truly falling in on us, all due to our evil technological and industrial destruction wreaked on the helpless Mother Earth.

As a result of this the Blair’s EngSoc government went into high gear to use this as a blunt instrument to destroy what’s left of the old UK’s economic growth potential, and further tighten the stiffling noose of intrusive and totalitarianish controls.

Government sounds the alarm on climate change

The world cannot afford to wait before tackling climate change, Tony Blair said today at the launch of a report preparing the way for new green taxes. Tony Blair said the Stern Review showed the scientific evidence of global warming was “overwhelming” and its consequences for the planet “disastrous”.

…”scientific evidence overwhelming”????? Yep, they have the best scientists that money can buy, and WOW – can they churn out the junk science, never mind inadequate models, fudged analyses, and the exclusion of conflicting data in THEIR reports.

SO, what we’re left with is the question of “What’s the point?” Oh, yeah – there sure is one, and is it SHARP:

You’ll pay for days like this

Consumers will be told today to prepare for new green taxes on cars, fuel, air travel and consumer electronics to curb pollution and avert a looming global catastrophe caused by climate change….Ministers plan to use the report to pave the way for “eco-taxes” to persuade people to adopt less-polluting lifestyles.

If the EngSoc government of Great Britain Airstrip One can pull this off, you just KNOW that the Donks will go for it over here at their first opportunity. (Can you say “S-P-E-A-K-E-R P-E-L-O-S-I?)

But wait a minute! It seems that the Inner Party EngSoc leadership hasn’t exactly been historically consistent with it’s own allegedly desired policies:

Gordon Brown’s claim to be leading the global battle against climate change were undermined last night by the disclosure that so-called green taxes have actually slumped while he has been Chancellor. Official figures also show that ordinary families have borne the brunt of environmental taxes and households are paying almost four times more than businesses for every ounce of pollution they create.

What? Isn’t EngSoc looking out for the people sheeple?

Gordon Brown has played down the prospect of further big tax rises aimed at consumers on motoring and air travel.

Oh. Doesn’t this sort of contradict the overall plan? Methinks there is a job of politicla trimming going on…shocking! Simply shocking!

And to compound Mr Brown’s problems, environmental campaigners warned that he was likely to go into the next election with UK carbon emission levels higher than they were when Labour came to power in 1997.

So much for the exemplar of envirowacko virtue of the world.

Oh yeah, there is also THIS (fully predictable) set of consequences if this gets shoved down the throat of HM long-suffering subjects.

Here’s the original (leaked) proposal for the planned cycle of envirowacko taxation. Interesting to see the EngSoc elites at work, in spite of the probable damage they would do to their own nation and people:

Amber alert over green taxes

The Institute of Directors has warned that Britain’s competitiveness will suffer if the country tries to address climate change unilaterally. Responding to the Stern Review on global warning, Miles Templeman, director-general of the IoD, said: “Without countries like the US, China or India making decisive commitments, UK competitiveness will undoubtedly suffer if we act alone. This would be bad for business, bad for the economy and ultimately bad for our climate.”

Oh oh – someone got hit by the clue bat over there!

Britons ‘could be microchipped like dogs in a decade’

What in the world has happened to the UK lately to be going in this direction?

Human beings may be forced to be ‘microchipped’ like pet dogs, a shocking official report into the rise of the Big Brother state has warned. The microchips – which are implanted under the skin – allow the wearer’s movements to be tracked and store personal information about them.

Note the use of the term “forced”. Yech!

One has to wonder whether anyone with genes for any gumption either left (for America or Australia) or got killed in the wars.

Ugandan demonstrates how not to recycle munitions

Just the header of this indicated that there is not a pretty ending…and there wasn’t.

An attempt last Saturday by a Uganda man to recycle an unexploded artillery shell ended rather badly when he ill-advisedly decided to melt it down for scrap, Reuters reports.

DUH. Of course, the result was predictable…but apparently not predictable for everyone.

Francis Agwoka, acting police chief for the “once war-ravaged eastern Teso region”, pretty well summed it up when he told the news agency: “We understand this man picked up a shell and tried to melt it for scrap. He put it in the fire and it exploded.” Agwoka added: “Two people were killed and seven others rushed to hospital critically injured. We are sealing off the area to look for more bombs.”

The regret is for those in the vicinity who were caught in the collateral damage. To quote from Larry Niven’s book Oath of Fealty: “Just think of it as evolution in action.”

French Riot Police Sent to Marseille After Teens Torch Bus, Burn Woman

The street barbecue season is starting to heat up again in Frogland.

France’s interior minister sent riot police to patrol the southern port city of Marseille on Sunday after a group of marauding teenagers torched a bus, gravely burning a young woman.

French police braced for violence this weekend, the anniversary of last year’s riots in poor neighborhoods where immigrants from former French colonies in Africa live with their French-born children on the fringes of society.

I guess since nothing changed after last years’ riots, then…well, nothing has changed to impress the Islamogangs to restrain themselves this year either…and then they wonder why they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

Two years on from the ban and Britain’s hunts are flourishing

When the ban on hunting was introduced, supporters feared that the future of the sport was threatened. Almost two years on, however, a survey has revealed that many hunts have increased their membership, with some being forced to turn people away. The results of the study, carried out by the Countryside Alliance, provided a boost for hunt supporters as the new season got under way yesterday.

The Chief’s heart is warmed by this report from across the eastern pond, that the attempt to ban the traditional style of foxhunting in the UK has had the effect of stimulating greater interest, and greater participation than before. It seems that the legislation has enough “wiggle room” that the hunt organizations found that they could continue to function quite well, thank you!

Not only are the hunt groups prospering, but the overall numbers of foxes killed has greatly increased, chiefly due to an increase in alternative (and more efficient) methods:

More than a third of respondents said fox and hare numbers had dropped since the ban. While 20,000 foxes a year were killed by registered packs before the ban, and 75,000 a year by all forms of hunting and pest control, hunt insiders believe that both of these numbers have risen. The reasons are complex, but the use of guns rather than hounds and the renewed vigour that gamekeepers are applying to controlling fox numbers after the ban are cited as the most likely.

Chalk this one up as another failed attempt of the moonbats to impose their world onto the rest of us, whether we want it or not, sort of like the wildly expensive exercise in futility that comprises the Canuckian gun registration laws.

There’s apparently still hope for Britain in spite of years of ennervating exposure to the Labour government’s EngSoc.

Mexico decries U.S. fence plan

This article is short, and to the point:

Mexico has criticized a plan by the United States to build a 700-mile long fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, El Universal newspaper reported Friday.

President George W. Bush Thursday signed the bill authorizing the construction of the fence, prompting Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon to call the law a “mistake.”

Some 1.2 million Mexicans and other illegal immigrants tried to enter the United States last year.

So they don’t like the fence idea?

Eff ’em if they can’t take the joke!

Kennedy-KGB collaboration

Here’s yet another illustration of the character, or lack of it of Donk Senator Ted *hic* Kennedy from released cold-war era KGB correspondence.

If Chebrikov’s account of events is accurate, it’s clear Mr. Kennedy was actively engaging the Russians to influence the 1984 election. He also seems to have genuinely believed that Mr. Reagan’s policies were endangering U.S.-Soviet relations and that the best solution was to get Mr. Reagan out of office. The letter closes with Chebrikov saying that “Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988,” possibly suggesting Mr. Kennedy had other, more selfish motives.

As Mr. Kengor concludes, “if the memo is in fact an accurate account of what transpired, it constitutes a remarkable example of the lengths to which some on the political left, including a sitting U.S. senator, were willing to go to stop Ronald Reagan.”

We agree. Even in a jaded world, it is breathtaking to discover a U.S. senator — brother of a former president — actively and secretly collaborating with Soviet leaders in an attempt to undermine the president of the United States’ nuclear defense policy during the height of the cold war.

Really, can there be any other description of this than treasonous sedition? The Chief thinks not!

This also illustrated that the Donks’ current games of footsie with the Islamofascists are part of an old tradition for them…so why be surprised. God help us if they regain control in Washington.

Cards top Tigers 4-2 to win World Series

The Chief’s blogging has been somewhat distracted for the last few weeks with the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs. Being a native of St. Louis, and remembering riding the Grand Avenue street car as a kid to watch the Cards play two Busch Stadiums ago, who else would I root for in MLB?

Anyway, with no majorly hot contest in South Dakota’s election this year, the Chief took the time to sit in front of the HDTV and watch all of the playoff games that the Cards played (except for one of the Mets games due to other plans made by Mrs. Chief).

Favored by few, the St. Louis Cardinals used an unlikely cast of characters to win their first World Series in nearly a quarter century. Jeff Weaver dominated, David Eckstein drove in two runs on balls that didn’t leave the infield and the Cards took advantage of another wild throw by a Tigers pitcher to beat Detroit 4-2 on Friday night and won the Series in five games.

As I think about it, I don’t know any rational reason to feel so good about it (all I did was watch some games after all) but I do anyway. Go figure – I enjoy it anyway!

Pre-emptive attack on Hamas eyed

The Chief has posted on the movement towards the next round of combat for the IDF a couple of times before. This is another brick in that wall.

Applying a lesson from the recent war against Hezbollah, Israeli leaders are increasingly talking about staging a pre-emptive military offensive in the Gaza Strip in order to avert a Hamas buildup of improved missiles.

Israeli forces already operating in the Gaza Strip Monday killed at least nine Palestinians and wounded 20. But officials and politicians say a broader operation against Hamas is necessary if Israel wants to deny it the ability to stockpile weapons like the Shi’ite militia Hezbollah, which was able to build up its arsenal during six years of relative calm.

Maybe they DID learn something useful from the bloody noxe the IDF got in Lebanon earlier this year.

Western Press Ignores Iran’s Hate-Filled Quds Day

It is disturbing when the entire leadership of one nation, along with hundreds of thousands of its citizens, comes out with celebrations and parades every year that call for the annihilation of another country.

This is another case of some news that’s “not fit to print” according to the NY Slimes.

Their activities are nothing if not diverse in their expression of enmity:

Iranian press outlets featured hundreds of photographs from the celebrations in Tehran. Among the notable scenes captured were children in Condoleezza Rice costumes; effigies of President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert, and Prime Minister Blair being lit on fire and dragged through the streets; the burning of American and Israeli flags; and hundreds of posters of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah featuring the caption “I swear to Allah that Israel is weaker than [a] spider house.” The posters called for a boycott of such “Israeli” goods as McDonald’s, Kit Kat bars, Intel, L’Oreal, Nestlé, Disney, and Marlboro.

Ahm-mad-on-a-jihad Ahmadinejad observed the festivities by stating his almost endorsement of the position of Venezuelan wanna-be dictator Chavez:

President Ahmadinejad gave a series of speeches leading up to and on Quds Day. At an Iftar address on October 14, he discussed his “connection with God” and said: “The president of America is like us. That is, he too is inspired … but [his] inspiration is of the satanic kind. Satan gives inspiration to the president of America.”

And then there’s this note:

A who’s who of the Iranian leadership marched in the main Quds Day parade before crowds chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America.” The marchers included a former Iranian president, Mohammed Khatemi, and a spokesman for the parliament presidency board, Mohsen Kouhkan, who predicted a quick “final and total defeat of America and the Zionist regime.”

Wait a minute! Khatemi…wasn’t he the Iranian alleged “moderate” who was not so long ago an honored guest at Harvard? Does he only support moderate death to us, or what? Speaking of moderation…this piece also takes cognizance of the degree of moderation of Iranian former President Rafsanjani who also got in on the fun:

The chairman of the Expediency Council and a former Iranian president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who led Friday prayers, said Quds Day is an important factor “between Islam and unbelief and the stage for Muslims’ jihad.” He added, “The world’s 1.5 billion Muslims back this jihad.”

Mr. Rafsanjani also led Quds Day prayers on December 14, 2001. Then, he warned of a coming confrontation between the “pious and martyrdom-seeking forces” and the “highest forces of colonialism,” which “might inflame a third World War.”

Sadly, Mr. Rafsanjani is considered one of Iran’s more moderate leaders.

So what else could be expected. Enemy Islamofascists will be…enemy Islamofascists.

Just Why Democrats Are ‘Dangerous’ When It Comes To America’s Defense

The listing of current and historic Donk fecklessness regarding national security is little short of scandalous, if not treasonable at times.

Thomas Sowell, the distinguished Stanford scholar, wrote on this page a week ago that there’s a difference between the major parties: “The Republicans are disappointing and the Democrats are dangerous.” We’d like to take this opportunity to elaborate on his second point.

The Chief concurs that the GOP has been disappointing. In fact they are so bad that they only look good compared to their opposition.

We and our allies are in a serious global war against fanatical, determined Islamic terrorists who have declared war on America and the free world. Their stated objective is to kill all the Americans they can, eliminate Israel, control and enslave women, and in time overpower and rule with an iron fist nations from Spain to the Far East. They intensely hate our freedom and successful way of life.

Read that paragraph again. And again. Get the picture yet, or do you need a good swat from the Cluebat?

While Democrats in Congress always assert they “support our troops,” their political policies and actions have continually undermined our nation’s fight to win the war on terror and defend America. Here is their national security record:

1. On missile defense of America – Democrats voted against it.

2. On the Patriot Act – Democrats voted against it.

3. On tapping foreign terrorists’ phone calls to the U.S. – Democrats voted against it.

4. On tracing terrorists’ money flow between foreign banks – Democrats voted against it.

5. On building a border wall to control illegal immigration and stop dope – dealers, terrorists and criminals – Democrats voted against it.

6. On interrogating captured terrorists – 194 Democrats just voted against it.

7. On telling the world (and our enemy) about a timetable for withdrawing from and deserting Iraq – this is Democrats’ retreat and defeat plan.

Think that’s bad? Here’s the Democrats’ national defense record for the last 40 years:

The rest of the piece lists the 40 years of recent history of Donk incompetence or willful foolishness regarding US national security.

Check out the article for all of THAT, and as you do remember: “By their fruits, ye shall know them.”

French Police Face Attacks by Growing ‘Intifada’

THe French have a real problem. One wonders if there is still enough gumption to literally and figuratively put out the fires.

EPINAY-SUR-SEINE, France – On a routine call, three unwitting police officers fell into a trap. A car darted out to block their path, and dozens of hooded youths surged out of the darkness to attack them with stones, bats and tear gas before fleeing. One officer was hospitalized.

The recent ambush was emblematic of what some officers say has become a near-perpetual and increasingly violent conflict between police and gangs in tough, largely immigrant French neighborhoods that were the scene of a three-week paroxysm of rioting last year. One small police union claims officers are facing a “permanent intifada.” Police injuries have risen in the year since the wave of violence.

A heavy influx of foreign-based Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, Lebanese and Hizballah fighters swells Hamas strength for internecine showdown

Senior IDF officers told DEBKAfile that the foreign fighters are slipping into Gaza through large gaps in the Gazan-Egyptian border. Among the arrivals are scores of bomb experts and commando combat instructors. They are coming to augment and upgrade Hamas’ “Rapid Deployment” unit and the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist coalition. Mingled among them are al Qaeda operatives from Sinai.

What to do when a snake fights a scorpion? Smash them BOTH, otherwise the winner will come after you later.

Reason to believe, or not

Spengler’s latest in his running commentary and analysis of the on-going discussion between the Pope and Islam, which seems to the Chief to go one up to the Pope based on substance over symbolism, not that that’s how the MSM will report it.

Pope Benedict XVI has drawn a collective response from the Muslim world, in the form of an open letter from 38 Islamic leaders regarding his September 12 address in Regensburg. “All the eight schools of thought and jurisprudence in Islam are represented by the signatories,” according to a press release hailing the letter as “unique in the history of interfaith relations”. [1] The pope provoked outrage by suggesting that Islam rejects reason: the open letter proves him right. They argue that there is no dichotomy in Islam between reason and faith, which turns out to mean that there is no role for reason.

Check it out. Spengler is one of the most thoughtful commentators that the Chief has encountered. This is some fundamentally important stuff.

Survivor! The GOP Victory

Barrons, which is a very serious source, comes up with a view that is highly discrepant from the conventional wisdom of most of the MSM:

Jubilant Democrats should reconsider their order for confetti and noisemakers. The Democrats, as widely reported, are expecting GOP-weary voters to flock to the polls in two weeks and hand them control of the House for the first time in 12 years — and perhaps the Senate, as well. Even some Republicans privately confess that they are anticipating the election-day equivalent of Little Big Horn. Pardon our hubris, but we just don’t see it.

Our analysis — based on a race-by-race examination of campaign-finance data — suggests that the GOP will hang on to both chambers, at least nominally. We expect the Republican majority in the House to fall by eight seats, to 224 of the chamber’s 435. At the very worst, our analysis suggests, the party’s loss could be as large as 14 seats, leaving a one-seat majority. But that is still a far cry from the 20-seat loss some are predicting. In the Senate, with 100 seats, we see the GOP winding up with 52, down three.

This would be cataclysmic to the Donks, and would be a serius deviation from the historical norms of what happens in a 6-year off-election. Check out the article to see how they developed this hypothesis. The Chief certainly hopes this case proves out.

China wrests N. Korean pledge

A couple examples of diplomatic activity, involving the leader of the Foggy Bottom Boys of the State Dept., and everybody’s favorite ChiComs:

China reportedly won a pledge from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il not to conduct another nuclear test and at the same time blocked bank transfers to the isolated state.

Are they serious? Time will tell. They certainly have the POTENTIAL to get the NorK Beloved Leader’s attention. Meanwhile…

“In this entire 30-year history of the North Korean nuclear program, this is the first time that the international system has been able to actually impose a cost on North Korea for its nuclear behavior,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. “It’s able to impose that cost because China has been brought into the process in a way that China never was before,” she said after meetings with President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders.

You can believe as much of that about/from the ChiComs as you want to, but the Chief is highly skeptical how this will actually end up.

Italy says slave trade growing

Italy has urged Europe to tackle the growing problem of human slavery and trafficking on a continent-wide basis. Speaking at a two-day seminar in Rome, Italian Equal Opportunities Minister Barbara Pollastrini said, “Human trafficking is a repugnant practice that has become an enormous problem in Europe,” reports Ansa news agency. “The battle cannot be fought alone but must instead be conducted at a European level and with other countries around the world.”

This may not necessarily be the case, but the Chief can’t help but notice the coincidence between this disturbing trend and equally disturbing trend towards Eurabia.

Cardinals Win – National Anthem Loses

The Chief was stunned to note the lack of the National Anthem at the start of the World Series.

WTF? What is the matter with MLB that we shouldn’t have this great American tradition continued, especially in wartime. Is this yet another case of PC run amok, or what? Somebody needs to take one of those baseball bats and turn it into a cluebat and smack them with it!

Speaking of stunned, the Detroit fans took it upside the head too: one writer had even called that the Tigers would take the series in three games they were SO much better than the Cardinals. As an unashamed Cards fan, the Chief has some sympathy for them; been there, done that in 2004 – but it’s more fun to have a winning team.

CNN Now in Snuff Film Business!

Watch American GI’s getting killed on CNN?

The Chief asked a work associate, whose husband is a law enforcement officer, what she would think of it if TV crew went out with gang-bangers who were on a mission to kill police. Needless to say she didn’t have a good opinion of that. When I then related that that was what CNN had done in Iraq with Islamoterrs sniping US troopers on camera – her response showed the basic common sense of MOST people: “Wouldn’t that be like – treason?”

I couldn’t put it any clearer!

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State inquiry focuses on Flandreau lawmaker

The Chief has to suppose that he moves in the wrong – or is it right circles, not to have picked up on the gossip that apparently has been circulating in Flandreau since last February concerning this situation. Of course, living 15 miles out in the county might have something to do with it too.

Anyhoo…once he saw the reportage on Dakota War College, and SD Politics, the assumption was that it wouldn’t be long before even the Argus-Follower would be forced to take cognizance that something was happening. That time has come, and now it’s a matter of letting the investigative – and, given that it’s an election year, political chips fall where they may.

Fortunately, not having been there or done that, the Chief will leave ultimate judgement to the legislative and legal processes that are now in motion.

This seems to be too close to the truth here in South Dakota for this season.

Remember, these are the folks that are also talking about 100-year predictions. You can believe as much of THAT as you want to, but the Chief suggests a healthy grain of salt is in order for that.

Osborne’s first tax cut will be stamp duty on shares

If the Conservatives get back into the UK government, they are planning a phased elimination of the Stamp Tax. You know, The Tax Stamp. This is the one the US rejected before it was even the US – and provided one of the touchstone issues that stimulated the American Revolution.

The Brits are finally figuring out that this tax was perhaps a bad idea. Better late than never.

SD War College has been tracking a situation where a SD State Senator has been involved in some sort of impropriety that would constitute a serious rules violation, if true.

Coincidently, there has been a lot of conversation in the Flandreau area about a similar situation, although in that case, names, and a lot of more detailed information is included in the commonly available version(s). There is even mention of alleged sub-rosa political deals associated with the non-release of information by some of the principals involved.

Of course, this is all just local conversation, with no open corroboration by anyone concerned. The Chief will be watching along with a lot of others, to see how this one develops.

What is out there, has been pretty nicely summarized by DWC here, here, and here, and also on South Dakota Politics. Check them out for more of the scoop on this, if you are so inclined.

In spite of the Argus Loser Liar Leader jumping on any hint of anything that they can use to flog the Governor and other Republicans, Dave Kranz et al have been as speechless as Mt.Rushmore on this one. This is also noted on SDP – but then, who could be surprised…the Argus does what the Argus does. That’s the way they are…sort of like horses leaving behind evidence of their passage, it just comes with the territory.

Hamas threatens to break ceasefire after Israeli air strikes

Israel and Hamas were on the brink of war last night as a senior member of the Islamic movement hinted that it would stop observing a 20-month-old ceasefire in retaliation for the latest Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military insisted that it would carry on targeting Hamas, after what it described as clear evidence that the movement was smuggling weapons into Gaza to mount cross-border attacks.

Hopefully the Israeli government has had a chiropractic adjustment or something to fix its spine since the Round 1 festivities in Lebanon with the Hezbulls.

Navy ‘too weak’ for big role in Korea blockade

The United States is leading attempts to put together a force that would prevent suspect cargoes from entering the Marxist dictatorship and stop North Korea exporting weapons of mass destruction technology to rogue regimes such as Iran and terrorist groups.

But senior Royal Navy officers last night cast serious doubt over Britain’s ability to make a significant naval contribution to the proposed UN force, claiming that drastic cuts in government spending on the navy over the past decade had severely reduced their ability to participate in major foreign operations. “I am staggered that the Government is trying to make this commitment when it knows what our Armed Forces are going through,” a senior Royal Navy officer last night told The Daily Telegraph.

The state of the Royal Navy is a disgrace. Britain deserves better than this, especially given the historical record and role of the Royal Navy in protecting the island since the days of Drake, Frobisher, and the Spanish Armada.

As a result of government cutbacks any British ships deployed to the South China Sea to enforce the UN resolution would depend on the American or French navies to provide “beyond visual range” air defence with their aircraft carriers.

The Brit navy dependent on the FRENCH? Nelson must be turning in his grave!

The Navy has been cut by almost a third since Labour came into power, and the admission by Royal Navy commanders that they were struggling to find suitable ships to deploy to the UN force will raise further questions about the Labour government’s handling of the armed forces’ budget. Britain’s military commitments to Iraq and North Korea have exposed glaring deficiencies in resources and equipment.

Sic transit gloria Britannia.

U.N. imposes trade embargo on N. Korea

This sounds better than it is – the ChiComs, who voted for the resolution have also noted that they have no intention of enforcing the actual embargo itself, so what’s the point of the whole exercise anyway?

Damfino, but it does once again illustrates the fecklessness if not total uselessness of the United Nations.

Ban Ki-Moon: Rice Should Talk with North Korea

See this prior posting concerning the NorKs, and follow the link to read the full article.

Now, try again to tell the Chief that we should be talking to that regime. Not only no, but hell no! In spite of this suggestion from the former South Korean foreign minister – the new UN Sec’y General – it looks like most South Koreans have felt the Cluebat and have rapidly changed their opinion.

In South, most call for new policy, own nukes

In less than a week since North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon, public opinion in the South has turned sharply against a South Korean policy of engaging the enemy in the belief it will eventually bring peace on the divided peninsula. A JoongAng newspaper poll, several days after the reported nuclear test Monday, found 78 percent of respondents thought South Korea should revise its policy, and 65 percent said South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to protect itself.

The Chief hearkens to the statement about nothing focusing one’s mind quitre so much as the immediate prospect of being hanged.

Deformed babies killed for super race

It’s hard to imagine that something could actually look worse than some of what the Nazis did to people in their custody – but it sure looks to the Chief like the NorKs have at least matched them in some ways, and arguably are even exceeding some of the eugenic rigor of said unlamented Reich.

The North Korean regime’s obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors. The latest description of Kim Jong-il’s policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.

There’s a lot more detail in the article, and it’s a grim picture of torture, abuse, and murder.

Apparently this news is not “fit to print”, since it hasn’t been selected for coverage by the NY Slimes editors.

“Jesus wept.”