December 2006 Archives

Just heard it on Fox News Channel. Justice, albeit long delayed, has been done.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Now that's clever.

Thanks to Hugh Hewitt, I found a brutal takedown of the Iraq Study Group's report. John Podhoretz has penned a razor-sharp rebuttal to James Baker and friends.

The nation's capital hasn't seen such concentrated wisdom in one place since Paris Hilton dined alone at the Hooters on Connecticut Avenue.

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Also in the Support Group: Iran and Syria. Yes, having done their best to destroy the new Iraq, these two tyrannical nations are poised to perform a very, very constructive role in helping to get the new Iraq up on its own two footsies!

And why? Because, see, it's in their interest to do so: "Although Iran sees it in its interest to have the United States bogged down in Iraq, Iran's interests would not be served by a failure of U.S. policy in Iraq that led to chaos and the territorial disintegration of the Iraqi state."

This is why we have commissions, you see. Regular dumb folk might look at the evidence of the past 25 years and think that the last thing Iran wants is a nice, strong and stable Iraq on its border. They might think that a strong and stable authoritarian Iraq might just attack Iran again and cause another 10-year war with deaths of millions. But here's the ISG to set us dumb people straight.

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The ISG is right. Syria can make a major contribution to Iraq's stability. But oddly enough, it chooses not to! Because until yesterday, it didn't have Paris Hilton - sorry, James Baker - explaining how wonderfully helpful it would be.

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Now, we dumb people might think that recent history demonstrates Israel will never consent to such a thing, and that Syria knows it full well, and that Syria doesn't actually want the Golan Heights back, and that like Iran, Syria would have more reason to fear a stable and successful Iraq than anything else in the world.

But that's what being stupid gets you. It means you don't understand the incredible value of the James Baker Handy-Dandy Solution to All the World's Ills. It's called "Get Israel." Once Israel is gotten, and gotten good, all the problems in the Middle East will be solved. And the seas will turn to lemonade, and the planets will come in alignment, and Mel Gibson will lie down with Jackie Mason.

That's hot.

Matt Heidt has a modest proposal for securing Iraq.

"Let's lose slowly" is the gist of it.

More analysis:
Richard Fernandez
Hugh Hewitt
Power Line
Rick Moran
Fullosseus Flap
Tammy Bruce
The Heritage Foundation
National Review
Andrew McCarthy

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Update: Check out the keywords in the official report.

If the changes in photos of gullies on Mars really do reveal that the red planet still has liquid water somewhere, then the likelihood of life on Mars is greater than scientists thought. Now, assume that there really is liquid water, and future probes dig into the soil to find living microbes. Exciting, of course.

But here's a question to really make your head spin: what if the microbes have DNA?

That would be major evidence of intelligent design. After all, what are the odds that an information storage system as incredibly complex as DNA would evolve on two separate planets? Keep an eye on the next Mars probes to hit the surface of the red planet. I know I'll be watching.

Attention all muslim imams: the next time you fly on an American airline, be sure to obey the Eight Rules of Flight Club.

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin

It's been almost a week since I suggested simple solutions to CENTCOM's difficulties in spreading good news from Iraq and Afghanistan. CENTCOM has seen my post, but as far as I can tell they've done nothing. The solutions I suggested are free and easy to implement. CENTCOM has three people dedicated full time to getting out the news online. I'm no tech geek, and it only took me one hour to tweak my site in the way I recommended to them. It's taken CENTCOM 295 hours and counting.

What's the hold up, CENTCOM? You don't have to get General Abizaid's permission to change the way your news feeds work, nor do you need his permission to e-mail Yahoo News and Google News with a request to include your feeds in their search engine results. I was once a junior officer myself, and I know a top-heavy staff structure can stifle your initiative ... but only if you let it. Ask forgiveness, not permission. I identified your problem and gave you a free and simple solution. By failing to take action you are derelict in your duties.

You are fighting a war in the news media, where enemy propaganda has already severely eroded public support for our military's efforts. Without public support, our government will pull our troops out of Iraq before we achieve victory. For the public to support the war, they must hear the truth about our successes. Your mission is to get the truth out. You are failing to accomplish your mission.

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UPDATE: BizzyBlog's Tom Blumer is still waiting for a response from Google News.