A good time to be a jihadist “Obama has already gone a long way towards ensuring that interrogators cannot use any technique that might reasonably be expected to extract information from hardened terrorists.”
The CIA Report: What Does It Say?
The detention of terrorists has prevented them from engaging in further terrorist activity, and their interrogation has provided intelligence that has enabled the identification and apprehension of other terrorists, warned of terrorist plots planned for the United States and around the world, and supported articles frequently used in the finished intelligence publications for senior policymakers and war fighters. In this regard, there is no doubt that the Program has been effective. ...
Like other reports that have been made public, the CIA IG's "Special Review" shows that the Bush administration was determined not to torture detainees or to treat them with undue harshness. It reflects that guidelines were promulgated to ensure reasonably humane treatment, despite the urgent imperative of getting life-saving information from al Qaeda terrorists. And it shows that those guidelines were followed, but for a handful of abuses that occurred mostly in the early days after September 11.
The report also notes that six years ago, the incidents it describes were referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution, and DOJ determined that there was nothing there that merited prosecution. For Barack Obama and Eric Holder to reverse that decision six years later, in hopes of political gain, is deeply contemptible.
Dick Cheney replies to the O and Holder, this “serves as a reminder, if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this Administration’s ability to be responsible for our nation’s security.” Stand by for the debate between the lawfare smoothies versus those with warfare facts.
$10-billion reasons for unions to bust up townhalls.
Poll in New York State probably applies elsewhere.
Obama, Clinton, Carter – We don’t need any more stooges
Do Saudis Hope For US Cap-and-Tax Plan?
Proposed federal legislation aimed at curbing global warming would drastically reduce domestic fuel production and could potentially double U.S. demand for imported oil products, says a new study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute as part of its effort to combat the landmark climate bill.
Saudi oil official reasons back.
Another view: US Defense requires an energy policy that protects us. And, the Chamber of Commerce seeks a “Scopes trial” on whether global warming is man-made. Should make a monkey out of many!
Captive nations are unfortunately not a thing of the past.
Zeke the Bleak Tries a Sneak:
That’s Ezekiel Emanuel (”Zeke”), brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel…He has been with the Obama administration as health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget since February, and is a member of the Federal Coordinating Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research….It’s simply amazing. No matter what the medical issue at hand happens to be, Zeke always ends up at the same place — not treating the somehow unworthy, or letting them die.
Dan Blatt reports:
The smartest blogger under 20 (that would be one of my nephews) reveals that Don Hunsucker, President of the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) a union which “has launched a campaign against Whole Foods” because its CEO John Mackey dared offer an alternative to Democratic health care proposals, earns $626,769 a year.”
BTW, Whole Foods’ CEO says he’s rich enough, and just takes a $1-year salary. When will the UFCW union boss be rich enough? Blatt adds: “I wonder whether the grocery store workers Hunsucker (supposedly) represents know how much he makes. I mean, the average grocery store cashier earns $26,479 a year, a stock clerk $28,697.”
Is there a friendly shrink available? I’d like to get a VA disability payment for this proposed liberalization by the VA, noncombat troops being PTSD for being stressed by being afraid of being stressed:
Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor.
Previously, claims adjudicators were required to corroborate that a noncombat veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity. This rule would simplify the development that is required for these cases, officials explained.
Tort Reform Is Key To Health Reform
They must have asked my wife:
The people who multitask the most are the ones who are worst at it. That's the surprising conclusion of researchers at Stanford University, who found multitaskers are more easily distracted and less able to ignore irrelevant information than people who do less multitasking.
No wonder I don’t hear her when I’m doing anything, including nothing, er thinking.
From the don’t spill hot coffee in your lap file:
A woman is suing a Chicago-area zoo for a 2008 fall near a dolphin exhibit, accusing zookeepers of encouraging the mammals to splash water and then failing to protect spectators from wet surfaces, local media reported on Thursday.
Thanks China: World faces hi-tech crunch as China eyes ban on rare metal exports.
The Japanese government has drawn up a “Strategy for Ensuring Stable Supplies of Rare Metals”. It calls for `stockpiling’ and plans for “securing overseas resources’. The West has yet to stir.
The U.N. Kicks Off Another Season Of Bedlam. Read it all; really disgusting. A sample:
Not that anything going on at the U.N. by now is likely to cause shock. The core scandal at the United Nations these days is that there have been so many scandals, with so few penalties paid, that sleaze, moral bankruptcy and high times for tyrants have again become accepted features of the landscape. It seems there are only so many times the public can hear about bribes, kickbacks, rapes committed by peacekeepers and sanctions-busters swanning around in the Delegates Dining Room before the tales all run together, and with glazed eyes, the audience nods off.
What does Venezuela’s dictator Chavez have against beauty? Oh, independent beauty is felt to reveal the ugliness of his regime. Last year’s Miss Universe, from Venezuela, shot back. This year’s, also from Venezuela, says, “She said she does not expect that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who did not congratulate Mendoza last year _ will praise her as other leaders have done with winners from their countries.” I prefer her graciousness and graces:
You can’t buy peace, etc.; it has to be earned. In the 1960’s, some joked we could buy off every North Vietnamese with a villa for less than we spent on the war. In the 1980’s, some joked we could buy weapons that worked from Japan for less and halve the defense budget. In the 1990’s til recently, the federal government actually tried this tack, subsidizing home buying for those who couldn’t afford it. Now, Ed Morrissey shows we can buy health insurance for all those uninsured citizens who actually are needy for under $50-billion, and not overturn what works for everyone else. It’s not a joke, as Instapundit highlights:
THE OBAMACARE DEFICIT BLOWOUT: “The press corps has noticed the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the House health bill increases the deficit by $239 billion over the next decade. But government-run health care won’t turn into a pumpkin after a decade. The underreported news is the new spending that will continue to increase well beyond the 10-year period that CBO examines, and that this blowout will overwhelm even the House Democrats’ huge tax increases, Medicare spending cuts and other ‘pay fors.’” What’s more, judging by the experience with Medicare and other programs, actual spending will be much higher than even these projections.
Dats all folks!
