Sad News

If true, I would say that this news is the first indication that W. is giving up on the Global War On Terror - one of the few issues which accounts for the remaining support in his 26% approval ratings. (I mean, it's unlikely that the remaining 26% who support Bush are doing so because of his immigration policy, his prescription drug plan, his massive increase in federal spending on public education, etc, etc. If he goes wobbly on the WOT, what is left to support?)

White House near decision to close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior administration officials said Thursday a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.

Ahhh, that's just @#$ing great.

Expected to consult soon, according to the officials, were Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace.

Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., whose district includes Leavenworth, is concerned about the possibility of housing detainees in Kansas, said Shanan Guinn, her chief of staff.

"She feels that moving the detainees to Leavenworth would make it a prime terrorist target and the disciplinary barracks simply does not have the room or the correct security features to handle detainees," Guinn said.

And this is a key problem... No one will want them anywhere. And the ACLU and the "progressives" won't sleep until "political prisoners" like the jihadists in Gitmo are released to return to the battlefield to kill Americans.

Previous plans to close Guantanamo have run into resistance from Cheney, Gonzales and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. But officials said the new suggestion is gaining momentum with at least tacit support from the State and Homeland Security departments, the Pentagon, and the Intelligence directorate.

Cheney's office and the Justice Department have been dead set against the step, arguing that moving "unlawful" enemy combatant suspects to the U.S. would give them undeserved legal rights.

Thank God for Cheney.

[...]
Rice has said she would like to see Guantanamo closed if a safe alternative could be found. She said during a trip to Spain this month that "the United States doesn't have any desire to be the world's jailer."

"I don't think anyone wants to see Guantanamo open one day longer than it is needed. But I also suspect nobody wants to see a number of dangerous people simply released out onto the streets," she said.

Uh-oh.... This seems like mushy diplo-speak to me. They're not "dangerous people." They are combatants who do not comply with internationally recognized conditions for war (aka Illegal Combatants). They are terrorists... they hide amongst civilians and specifically target non-combatants.

Officials say that Bush, who also has said he wants to close the facility as soon as possible, is keenly aware of its shortcomings.

His wife, Laura, and mother, Barbara, along with Rice and longtime adviser Karen Hughes, head of the public diplomacy office at the State Department, have told him that Guantanamo is a blot on the U.S. record abroad, particularly in the Muslim world and among European allies.

Of course, cartoons also inflame the Muslim world, so.... can't go around worrying about what gets their panties burqas in a bind, you know?

Bush has said the United States first has to determine what to do with the detainees there. The administration says some countries have refused to accept terror suspects from their territory.

Well, duh... If I'm a foreign country and the US captures a terrorist, it's a great opportunity for the US to do the heavy lifting and keep them from doing harm. And I can still show my indignation over the cruel treatment at Guantanemo if my electorate (or subjects) isn't totally on-board with the whole War On Terror thing.

Earlier this month, former Secretary of State Colin Powell called for the immediate closure of the prison, saying it posed an untenable foreign policy risk and was irreparably harming the U.S. image abroad.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said in statement that "removing the stain Guantanamo has left on our foreign policy" is long overdue.

"It also goes a long way toward returning America's moral authority in the world and addressing the mistakes which have set us back in the fight against terrorism," said Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 presidential candidate.

And who the @#$#$ cares what Colin Powell & John Kerry think? One of Powell's subordinates leaked the name of a "covert" CIA "operative," the most egregious and illegal act ever committed by anyone in human history. And John Kerry is a dork.

That Bush is even contemplating the closure of Gitmo (if true) is disappointing. Let's just hope that this is a story that was pushed by anti-Gitmo people in the Admin and doesn't truly represent the views of the upper echelon at the White House.

Your Co-Conspirator,
ARC: St Wendeler

Bloomies

So... let me get this straight.

1. Bloomberg becomes a Republican in order to ride on Giuliani's post 9/11 "tough-guy" schtick; and
2. After serving as mayor of New York, he's dropping the "R" and becoming an Independent in order to exploit some perceived weakness in the GOP field for Pres?
   

Personally, I don't think even Mike Bloomberg thinks he has a snowball's chance in Hell of winning the White House (as a D, R, or I). Nor does he have a chance of hitting Perot- or Nader-like returns if he does run as an Independent.

But that doesn't mean that the Inside the Bubble MSM won't convince themselves that this is the best opportunity for a moderate (ie, a "pro-business" liberal) to win over the hearts of the American people.

Your Co-Conspirator,
ARC: St Wendeler

A Consensus Among Fourth Graders in Maine

The Facts Are In^TM. I mean, only Holocaust Deniers would dare challenge the Consensus of Scientists Fourth Graders, right?

And when I think of research that potentially requires a radical redesign of our economic, political, scientific, and sociological foundations, these are the people that I want performing that research.

This article is sad and hilarious at the same time. A fourth grade class in Maine did "research" on global warming and has concluded that we must act now. Here's the article in full, with my comments throughout:

Pending doom: Global warming crisis
A group of fourth-graders in Portland creates a list of priorities to stop global warming.
June 14, 2007

Our school study of global warming started with lots of questions. What is global warming? What is happening now? What might happen in the future? What can each of us do to help? Why should we care? What will the future look like?

Why does the weird kid in the corner of the class still eat glue? What time is recess? These are also the burning questions in our mind...

A small group of students at our school has been researching and studying the effects of global warming. The evidence and data we collected is so overwhelming that we have decided to write about this issue.

Did this select group of fourth graders actually perform primary research? That seems to be the implication, but we all know that the evidence and data that they collected is nothing more than a classroom guide to the Church of Algore. I also highly doubt that the fourth graders were pouring through the UNIPCC's various reports over the past decade - even the summaries will bore you to death.

We want everyone to help curb Global warming. It truly means that the Earth is getting warmer. The ocean is warming at such an alarming rate that the continents are in danger.

Such a warming of the ocean is fuel for more severe hurricanes such as Katrina. Katrina was only a Category 1 storm when it crossed Florida. It became a monster storm by feeding off the extremely warm water in the Gulf of Mexico.

And, apparently they've not limited their research to actual science, but have decided to include the latest in Katrina alarmism. And, do they really mean that continents are in danger? I mean, given worst case scenarios, some cities could be in danger - but continents?

Not just the ocean temperature, but also the overall temperature on the planet is rising to dangerous levels.

The 10 "hottest" average years on record have occurred within the last 14 years. We continue to see record carbon dixoide [sic] levels in the atmosphere year after year. Just notice the strange weather around us this winter and spring and even summer-like days in March.

I mean, I remember when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, back in 2nd grade and we didn't have strange weather around us like this year!!! When's recess again?

The United States is the leading contributor to the global-warming crisis, producing one-third of the total greenhouse gases in the world, more than South America, Africa, Asia and Australia combined.

Hmmmm, I wonder if their data is a bit old. I mean, it was in late April that scientist pointed out that China (alone) was going to surpass the US in greenhouse gas emissions this year... and, last I checked, China was part of Asia. Of course, we can't let facts get in the way of our desire to bash the US and its evil capitalist system, with its reliance on freedom of choice.

Please think about what people are doing and what could happen if they do not stop.

Have we ever wondered what life might be like in 50 to 100 years? We might have imagined big robotic cities and flying cars, but I bet we didn't imagine huge cities and tall skyscrapers underwater. Well, that's what life will be if we keep burning fossil fuels without thought.

Don't worry, kids. I think about the fossil fuels each and every time I fill up my 25 gallon tank and push the pedal to the floor, hearing that V8 Hemi roar.

;-)

Here are some facts that might help people realize the danger we are facing.

Glaciers are melting at a faster and faster rate and glaciers are a huge source of the world's drinking water. Greenland and the Arctic ice shelf are melting faster each year and will disappear in our lifetime if our fossil fuel usage continues unchecked. That melting will raise the water level of the world's oceans nearly 40 feet. Basically, Manhattan would be underwater.

It seems that the fourth graders have seen Algore's 20 feet and raised him to 40 feet. As has been demonstrated, the 20 foot mark is absolutely ridiculous and predicated on a lot of "if's." I wonder where the fourth graders found the extra 20 feet of water in the oceans worldwide? It's probably because they feel that that is what would happen...

Hopefully, people will understand the danger we are facing. Do Mainers want this to be our future? Although global warming is a huge pending global disaster, we all have the means to change it together.

Because the United States contributes one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, here are seven sensible ways to save our seven beautiful continents:

• Change light bulbs to long lasting fluorescents and save 150pounds of CO per year in every household.
• Drive less and save 1 pound of CO for every fewer mile.
• Save 2,400 pounds of CO by recycling plastics and paper.
• Plant a tree -- it breathes over a ton of helpful gases per lifetime.
• Turn off any electrical items (TV, games, cell phones, lights, etc.) when not in use to save 1,000 pounds of CO.
• Be informed -- go to www.stopglobalwarming.org or www.climatecrisis.net.
• Stay informed -- Watch Planet Earth (kids) and An Inconvenient Truth (families).

They failed to mention all of the fossil fuels that were used to create their plastic toys - their gameboys, iPods, computers, dolls, etc. I've got an idea. Let's propose to these fourth graders that, in order to stop global warming, we'll confiscate their toys and replace them with a nice, baseball size rock.

And, of course, this wouldn't be a column about Global Warming without paying homage to Algore's idiotic movie.

Is our future already chosen for us? We are all young students, ages 9-11, and cannot change the world like adults can. All the facts we have presented are true, real, and will shape our future unless decisive action is taken.

At least, that's what Algore and Randy Bigelman (our teacher) have told us. And, come on - we're fourth graders, so you know... we're still working hard to get the basics of long division, so don't expect us to do anything other than spit out the information our teacher has provided us regarding such a complex issue as Global Climate Change, which combines science, economics, and sociological problems.

We will be in great danger if we don't get this problem in the minds of all people and curb the unchecked growth of greenhouse gas emissions.

It is our future our nation is playing with, so please change the way people are playing. We encourage everyone to take action and stop global warming.

Well, that was fun. I'm so glad that Algore created a film that would be used to presented as fact in order to indoctrinate our youth to an anti-growth and anti-free market agenda.

*** UPDATE ***
Tim Blair is also covering this article... providing some of the reader comments from the story.

Your Co-Conspirator,
ARC: St Wendeler