The Rant

by Bob Clasen What motivates the State Department, the CIA or the Department of Defense to do their jobs competently and efficiently? They have no competition. Their main task it to keep their jobs and cover up mistakes. The experience of the past four years is that they are not very competent. People in other countries do not participate in our government. They do not vote and cannot sue our government about a war. What motivation does our government have to reduce civilian casualties or to treat them justly? Very little, sad to say. Why should we expect that our military is any more efficient than the post office, or the Department of Roads and Highways or the IRS? They have no competition. There is no market pressure forcing them towards efficiency. Unlike market based decisions which are based upon millions of consumer choices, the decision to go to war is usually in the hands of a cabal of "experts" (currently the neocons) who disagree with oth...

Iran calls for Israel’s “elimination” Thu. 03 Aug 2006 Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Aug. 03 – Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Thursday for the “elimination” of Israel. Ahmadinejad was speaking at an emergency session of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, which had been organised to discuss Israeli attacks in Lebanon. His remarks were carried in full by the state-run news agency ISNA. He described the Jewish state as “fake” and said that it lacked any “legal foundation or legitimacy”. “The United States and Britain and a considerable number of Western government do not have any limits on the extent of their political, propaganda, financial, and military backing for this regime”, he said. He said the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which has been in intense battle with Israel over the past three weeks, had become the “symbol of Muslim resistance”. “The main solution is the elimination of the Zionist regime”, Ahmadinejad said. He cal...

by Bob Clasen If I was an Israeli, I would move to the U.S. Is it not inevitable that when Moslems finally get nuclear weapons, someone will lob a few into Israel, just as Hezbollah is currently lobbing primitive missiles with no regard to the consequences? In this not to distant future, the Mid-east will become a vast plain of radioactive glass as Israel responds in its usual disproportionate way to attack. How can a rational treaty be reached between two parties when the primary motivations are not rational self interest, but religous ideas such as "Holy Land" "Jihad" " and theological disputes about the presumed wishes of God. Religous war is a fight to the death over who has the best imaginary playmate. In the long run, the best hope for the West in its world conflict with Islamic fundamentalism is that the oil will run out. What other wealth has Islamic fundamentalism produced in the past 300 years? At that time, the primitive ideas that underly Islam...

Here is a straightforward elucidation of the moral defense of Israel. Does Hezbollah have any moral defense? If morality is besides the point, then Israel cannot be criticized for destroying a dangerous enemy. No Cease-Fire Remove Hezbollah's missiles--or destroy them. BY BENJAMIN NETANYAHU Sunday, July 23, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT JERUSALEM--Some 44 years ago, when Soviet missiles in neighboring Cuba threatened American cities, John F. Kennedy set one goal and ultimately prevailed in achieving it: Remove the missiles. Today, when Israel's cities are pummeled by Hezbollah missiles launched from neighboring Lebanon, our goal should be the same: Remove the missiles. Or destroy them. It is not enough to push Hezbollah 30 kilometers north of the border. Hezbollah rockets have a range of up to 200 kilometers, and could easily be fired from Beirut. Nor is it enough to achieve a cease fire. With its missile arsenal intact, Hezbollah could re-emerge triumphant a year or two from now and a...

Here is another aspect to the so-called "Culture War." On July 19, 2005, Iranian officials executed two teenage boys in the city of Mashad in northeastern Iran. It was first reported that the boys were convicted of homosexuality. Prior to their execution, the teenagers were held in prison for 14 months and severly beaten with 228 lashes. The executioners, fearing reprisals, wore masks and anti-riot forces were mobilized to prevent outbreaks of public protests. Ironically, the boys were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square. http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/

So Who is radical Islam at war with? Israel? America? The West? Anything that is not radically Islamic? Do the Mullahs in Iran have any desire to live at peace with Israel? With the West? Here is one man's point of view. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWVhMDY5Y2U0M2FiYTgyZGFhZWVhZTJmMzEwM2E1MDk= While there are moderate Moslems out there, they do not seem to be running Iran right now, or have anything to do with Hezbollah. bob

I am not personally a big fan of the World cup, but this seems a little too strict for me. Bob Clasen Somali Islamist militia kill two over World Cup By Mohamed Ali Bile Reuters Wednesday, July 5, 2006; 12:14 PM MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali Islamist militia shot dead two people demanding to watch the World Cup semi-final, witnesses said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of a hardline religious edge to the newly powerful movement. Four others were wounded in the fracas outside a cinema. The Islamists, who kicked U.S.-backed warlords out of Mogadishu then took control of a large swathe of southern Somalia last month, initially sought to project a moderate image but have been increasingly showing a more radical side. Tuesday night's shooting came when militiamen in the central town of Dusa Mareb -- the home area of the Islamists' hardline leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- shut a cinema showing the Germany-Italy semi-final, inhabitants told Reuters. "They stood in front of...

After condemning NY Times ' NSA wiretap story, WSJ editorial page mum so far on disclosure of bank monitoring Summary: After criticizing the revelation of the Bush administration's warrantless domestic wiretapping program, The Wall Street Journal editorial board has been silent on the disclosure of the administration's monitoring of international financial transactions, on which the Journal 's own news division reported. On December 20, 2005, four days after The New York Times broke the story that the Bush administration was conducting a vast domestic electronic surveillance program without obtaining warrants apparently required by law, The Wall Street Journal printed an editorial saying that the Times ' disclosure of the secret program was "likely to do genuine harm" to the country. On June 27, more than four days after The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), and the Los Angeles Times disclosed the e...

Many Westerners see Muslims as fanatical, violent and intolerant, according to the study by the Pew Research Center in Washington. Muslims, for their part, tend to view the West as selfish, immoral, and greedy - as well as fanatical and violent - the survey says. The researchers canvassed the opinions of 14,000 people in 13 countries. BBC Islamic affairs analyst Roger Hardy says a string of events, from last year's London bombings to the more recent row over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad, appear to have taken their toll on relations between Islam and the West. Muslim opinions about the West and its people have worsened over the past year and by overwhelming margins Pew Center report The Pew Research Center's survey, published on Thursday, speaks of a "great divide" between the two. It says that Muslims and Westerners blame each other for deteriorating relations. Muslim people "have an aggrieved view of the West" and are "much more likely t...

There's an enemy living among us I think you who I mean Nobody really knows a thing about them Not even Martin Sheen They're a threat to our standard of living And the cheap supply of oil I say let's rout their sorry asses out Before they soil our American soil Oh, let's go after the Buddhists Let's knock some shaven heads Those humanistic, non-materialistic, Pacifistic slugabeds They're ego-less and nonviolent Un-American and weird They just sit and stare at the wall and their God doesn't even have a beard Oh, I don't want to say too much about it They might be listening right now Meet me later in the parking lot I got the yellow El Camino with the Bumper sticker saying, "Isolationism — Ask Me How!" It's a nation of freedom and tolerance And that's just plain dangerous Let's wipe out terrorism everywhere Except, of course, where the terrorists are us Oh, let's go after the Buddhists Let's go rough up some monks Those semi-m...

Bob: Check out the future. If giant databases get to be public. http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf This is worth the look.

from a blog ( http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=051206A ) Ten Points of Difference Between America and Radical Islam to consider when we are not embroiled in partisan politics. 1. Many people have fled radical Muslim regimes to live in the U.S. Hardly anyone has fled the U.S. to live under radical Muslim regimes. 2. In the United States, women are allowed to choose whether or not to where modest clothing. Radical Muslims deny them that right, as well as others. 3. Americans who abuse enemy prisoners cower in shame and are prosecuted. Radical Muslims celebrate war crimes, proudly display photos and videos of war crimes, and honor the criminals. 4. More Iraqis would like to see the terrorists give up tomorrow than see the Americans leave tomorrow. (If there is any doubt about that, we can put the issue up for a vote in Iraq.) 5. Americans see negotiations as a way to resolve differences. Radical Muslims see negotiations as a sign of weakness. 6. When Muslims come to live in Americ...

By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY Thu May 11, 7:21 AM ET The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans - most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: The NSA record collection program "It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a ...

Bob Clasen writing: So-called compassionate conservatives have supported thousands of dubious new programs including corporate welfare, national education programs, and tons of "earmarked" pork barrel progams such as Trent Lott's railroad to nowhere, the biggest increase in entitlement spending since 1965 (Prescription Drugs) driving the national debt to new heights. In other words, Republicans have done just what Democrats would have done in office. Furthermore, the Republicans have continued a policy of essentially open borders. This has resulted in allowing Mexico to export its poverty to the United States, with resulting huge increases in costs to taxpayers for education and medical care, especially in California and Texas. So what is a libertarian minded Republican to do, if he wants to support a program of controlling the ballooning size of government? I tell you one thing. He is not sending money to the current national party. This is why Bush's poll numbers ar...

Bob Clasen writing . . . Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the crazed President of Iran, has declared that Israel must be destroyed. Less attention has been paid to Iranian leaders' pronouncements on exactly how Israel would be destroyed ``by a single storm,'' as Ahmadinejad has promised. Iran is steadily moving forward to obtaining nuclear weapons with the enthusiastic support of the Iranian people. To my intuition, Jews in Israel are looking more and more like Jews in Europe in the 1930s, with a fateful dark cloud hanging over their future. World leaders make pompous proclamations but do nothing, as usual. What can be done with respect to a suicidal culture of death like Islam, willing to sacrifice millions of its own people to wreak revenge against its most hated enemy? If I was a Jew in Israel, I would take my family and emigrate to the United States. The fact that Israel can retaliate with nuclear weapons just before it is destroyed by a couple nuclear bombs will be of no cons...

April 26, 2006 Our Rotten IntelligenCIA Wall Street Journal Editorial Fired CIA officer Mary O. McCarthy went on offense Monday, denying through her lawyer that she has done anything wrong. But the agency is standing by its claim that she was dismissed last week because she "knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence." It has been reported that one of her media contacts was Washington Post reporter Dana Priest, who just won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on the so-called "secret" prisons that the CIA allegedly used to house top level al Qaeda detainees in Eastern Europe. We're as curious as anyone to see how Ms. McCarthy's case unfolds. But this would appear to be only the latest example of the unseemly symbiosis between elements of the press corps and a cabal of partisan bureaucrats at the CIA and elsewhere in the "intelligence community" who have been trying to undermine the Bush Presidency. The existence of this intelligence insu...

I guess when the administration is perceived as less than credable and the face of the lies is Pudgy McCellan, you replace him with Mr. Truth. With a new face the administration will stop fabricating reality. I hope the Washington press corps makes the replacement "earn" credability. I wouldn't take the job.

So when Gonzales couldn't tell us whether it was constitutional for the president to listen to purely domestic calls without any terrorist or foreign connection, he just didn't want to "go there". Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room Story Images Click thumbnails for full-size image: Breaking News from AP and Reuters Student can recite poem with profanity 6 killed when train, SUV collide in Colo. Tornadoes rip through eastern Iowa Schwarzenegger comes out vs. preschool tax Tornadoes reported across eastern Iowa document.wireservice_expandableNodes = new Array ( new ExpandableElement("Breaking_News") ); document.wireservice_expandableNodeList = new ExpandableElementList(); document.wireservice_expandableNodeList.addElement(document.wireservice_expandableNodes[0]); document.wireservice_expandableNodes[0].expand(); if (catman.isSlotAvailable('messagingunit')) { catman.renderSlot('messagingunit'); } if (catman.isSlotAvailable('wideskyscraper...

They are silent

Bob: I haven't seen you defending fearless leader much recently. Was the Scooter Libby revelation too much for you.? Or as I suspect, you are waiting for the rapture along with the current administration. I for one plan to be around for a while, I think the constant revising of the truth by this administration has to be made a central issue of public debate. Don't you expect more from your public leaders than what we have now.