No Scandal

Rich Lowry: The WMD scandal that wasn't
Rich Lowry has great thoughts about the study of flawed Iraq and WMD(s) intelligence -- but don't expect the liberals to buy it or stop, nothing has stopped their rhetoric before from the 9/11 commission that did not give them the "smoking gun" they hoped for to the Iraqi elections -- so expect business has usual. Nevertheless, is it such a bad thing? Look we have Dean as the DNC head; he and many on the left keep spewing their hate proving that they are unwilling the work together, heal, and that their only desire - only goal is the Whitehouse forget anything else.

The commission studying the intelligence failures that produced disastrously flawed estimates of Iraq's weapons-of-mass-destruction capabilities has finally produced its report, and it's devastating. Not just for U.S. intelligence, which is portrayed as hapless and bungling, but for Bush critics who have vested so much in the argument that Bush officials pressured intelligence agencies to support the case for war.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd is the epitome of this school of thought. The very morning the report was released she wrote that "political pressure was the father of conveniently botched intelligence," and fingered Dick Cheney as the lead culprit. Cut to Page 50 of the WMD report: "The Commission found no evidence of political pressure to influence the Intelligence Community's prewar assessments of Iraq's weapons programs."

Pay particular attention to what Mr. Lower says here.

No. The change began in 2000, when President Clinton was still in office. It was based on information from a (totally dishonest, as it turns out) source code-named Curveball. That year, the National Intelligence Estimate was updated to say: "New information suggests that Baghdad has expanded its offensive BW program by establishing a large-scale, redundant and concealed BW agent production capability.

News from The Associated Press

Google Doubles E-Mail Space
Could not let the day go without saying something about this -- some bloggers have a problem with Google News, and I must admit their "news" standards need to be worked out and better defined, but they do take care of users. So look for the link on the right and Gmail me! Gmail is the new standard for web-based mail continuing to improve, and others are struggling to keep up… There are many other features then just the 2+ Gigabytes of storage - check it out!

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A year after unveiling a free e-mail service with a full gigabyte of storage, Google Inc. is doubling the capacity of each account and plans to keep bumping up the limit in the future.
Once the upgrade takes effect Friday, Gmail users will be able to store up to 2 gigabytes of e-mail and attachments for each account. Even more capacity will be made available after that as it becomes feasible, the company said.
'Our goal is to make sure storage is no longer an issue for Web mail users,' said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products.

Not a Big Deal - Doesn't Involve Republicans

BBC NEWS | Americas | Ex-Clinton aide took secret files
I have heard many liberals talking of how the Bush administration has ruined our reputation for intelligence in the world -- of course, they leave out the little fact we were operating with an agency that had been revamped over the previous eight years and Bush had just under eight months before 9/11... Now we have a former Clinton aide pleading guilty to sneaking papers out -- if our reputation is ruined or is in question I guess Clinton and his administration get a pass, gotcha, I understand -- that is I understand their motivation but their story is lacking foundation.

A former top aide to US President Bill Clinton has admitted taking classified documents from the National Archives.
Former national security adviser Samuel Berger pleaded guilty to removing copies of a classified memo before his testimony before the 9/11 Commission.

Team Up Against Evil

The New York Times > Clerics Urge Sunni Arabs to Join Iraq's Police and Army
Well this is good news and I am pleasantly surprised to see it in the New York Times... Teaming up against evil is always a good thing.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 1 - A group of Sunni clerics, including some hard-line figures who fiercely oppose the American presence here, issued a statement today urging Iraq's Sunni Arabs to join the Iraqi army and the police.
The edict, signed by 64 imams and religious scholars, was a striking turnaround for the clerics, who have often lashed out in their sermons at the fledgling army and police, branding them collaborators.

Chris Matthews is a Ghoul

No since in repeating the idiotic statement you can see it and the contrasted pictorial facts here. Michelle Malkin hits the nail on the head - again!

Flashback - Sandy Berger

Remember when Sandy was seen sneaking classified papers out during the 9/11 commission, when all was denied or trivialized, when the NY Post again investigated it in January (mentioned here). Well Sandy plead guilty today.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former national security adviser Sandy Berger will plead guilty to taking classified material from the National Archives, a misdemeanor, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Berger is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Friday, said Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra.

The charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.

The former Clinton administration official previously acknowledged he removed from the National Archives copies of documents about the government's anti-terror efforts and notes that he took on those documents.

Now for the major question -- WHY or WHAT was he wanting to hide? Of course, since it does not involve a gotcha for the Bush administration I am sure the question will not be asked by the MSM -- Democrats are constantly allowed "honest mistakes" which was Sandy's reason excuse.

Will a "NO Apology" Heal Wounds

Top News Article | Reuters.com
I don't think this no apology will heal the wounds created by "Hanoi Jane" -- but maybe we need to wait and see the full interview. The real question is does she [Jane Fonda] really care what the Vietnam Veterans think of her or even more what the former POW(s) think.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jane Fonda regrets her visit to a North Vietnamese gun site in 1972, the actress and fitness guru said in an interview with CBS television show '60 Minutes' to be aired on Sunday.
The actress defended her trip to Vietnam in 1972, which won her the nickname 'Hanoi Jane.' But she said her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down U.S. pilots was a 'betrayal' of the U.S. military.
'The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal,' she said, calling the act, 'The largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine.'
But she said she did not regret visiting Hanoi, or being photographed with American prisoners of war there.
'There are hundreds of American delegations that had met with the POWs,' she said. 'Both sides were using the POWs for propaganda. ... It's not something that I will apologize for.

N. Korea Wishful Thinking

USATODAY.com - N. Korea demands equal treatment in talks
North Korea now considers themselves a "nuclear power" -- just because you develop nuclear weapons does not make you a "power"... That is kind of like "Firefox" demanding it is equal with Microsoft -- saying it don't make it so! Like a neighborhood bully or an international terrorist their only "power" is the threat of violence and this does not make a "nuclear power". My opinion is that North Korea has simply grown to a "nuclear terrorist" and the United States does not negotiate with terrorist...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Thursday the United States should dismantle all potential nuclear threats in the region before it would discuss giving up its own nuclear program and demanded to be treated equally in disarmament talks.
'Now that we have become a nuclear power, the six-party talks should be disarmament talks where participants can solve the issue on an equal basis,' a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

It Ain't Over

CNN.com - Terri Schiavo dies amid legal, ethical battle - Mar 31, 2005
Those that think this story stops here will be surprised -- I think it might be just beginning. My heart goes out to her family, all of them.

PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) -- Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the center of a family battle fought on a national stage, died Thursday morning, nearly two weeks after doctors removed her life-sustaining feeding tube.

N. Korea and Iran Fight

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea football violence erupts
Well this is interesting -- maybe we can just let North Korea and Iran play soccer repeatedly -- since one has to loose, eventually they might wipe each other out.

North Korean soldiers and riot police had to step in after violence erupted when the home side lost a World Cup qualifying match to Iran, say reports.
Bottles, stones and chairs were thrown on to the pitch in Pyongyang after a North Korean player was sent off.
Violence then spilled over outside the stadium and thousands of angry fans reportedly prevented Iranian players from boarding the team bus.

Well Whoopee Do

Telegraph | News | Iraq interrogation techniques exposed in memo
As a military member we participated in training that exposed us to pretty much, everything outlined in this memo -- so what is the big deal. We train our military so they might know what to expect if captured, although we could not take it past these levels to prepare them/us for the extreme levels captured US Military will really experience -- far above what is outlined in this memo... I really believe we need grow up and realize this is war and measures are needed and will be taken that are not taken within the confines of our lawful and peaceful borders -- yet another reason why taking the battle to them is a good thing...

Interrogators were sanctioned by their bosses to use dogs, stress positions and isolation in Iraqi prisons, a Government memo reveals.
General Ricardo Sanchez, then senior commander of US forces in Iraq, approved 29 interrogation techniques when he signed the document in Sept 2003.
The memo allowed for the presence of muzzled military dogs during interrogations to "exploit Arab fear of dogs".
It permitted "environmental manipulation", allowing interrogators to isolate prisoners, disrupt their sleep patterns, make their rooms hot or cold or expose them to unpleasant smells.

Now when you think torture -- what comes to mind? Do you think muzzled dogs, kneeling in uncomfortable positions, being cold or hot -- I did not think so -- if you are honest when you think of torture you think of beatings, broken bones, cuts, hot water, electricity, etc. etc. etc; come on guys. For the most part these guys are attempting to be has humane as possible and still retrieve information that will save lives and help end the conflict. Sure some "over step" these guidelines and as of this posting I am aware of more than a half a dozen convictions, on going trials, and investigations involving these "over steps".

Give Me a Break

Reuters.com - U.S. Child Obesity Dragging Down Overall Gains
This is simply amazing -- healthcare cost are increasing because we are living longer and the elderly are having to be cared for -- wait hold that news... Our young are at a greater health risk because of obesity! Well which is it -- we will be living longer causing healthcare cost to go up, or are we going to be dieing young and in turn reversing the raising healthcare cost? Yes, I am being facetious -- but sometimes I really get tired of reports like this and the monies (federal grants etc.) spent on these studies that IMO prove nothing -- I don't need a doctor to tell me that senior adults are living longer nor do I need a doctor to know that our current "fast-food" mentality is raising weight... My opinion on this particular subject is easy to understand -- it is the parents responsibly to raise and feed their children, of course, they might not be able to say no to much because another study would prove them bad parents with their negativism. Ever wondered how these expert's children, if they have any, actually turned out?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Child obesity has more than tripled in three decades and the increased health risk associated with being fat has wiped out progress in other areas, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
The annual report on U.S. child welfare from Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development also found that the poverty rate for families with children hit 17.2 percent in 2003, the worst it has been since 1998.

5 Year Old - the Fourth Victim

5 year old calls 911
I just heard a copy of this tape and it is heart breaking -- but, this five year old's heartbreaking call after finding his parents died may not be the worst part of the story.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- 'I think they're dead.'
With those words, 5-year-old Tia Hernlen described finding the bleeding bodies of her mother and father to a Sheriff's Office dispatcher early Monday morning.
Thirty-one year old Julie Hernlen was dead in the bedroom of the family's Ellison Avenue home. Her 29-year-old husband, Aeneas, was critically wounded. Both had been shot multiple times.
Volusia County sheriff's investigators believe the couple were the victims of David Edward Johnson, 33, whom they had accused of stalking them because he believed they had turned him in for drug activity.

The shooter/killer went on to kill himself in his house -- it was discovered that he felt the child's parents had turned him into the police, but per police they had not... Further, the parents had attempted to get a restraining order but a judge ruled against it.

Third victim in murder, suicide dies

Deputies said Johnson shot the Hernlens because Johnson believed the couple had turned him into law enforcement when he was arrested and charged with growing pot and possession of steroids in November. Sheriff's investigators have said the Hernlens had nothing to do with Johnson's arrest. The couple tried to get an injunction against Johnson, 33, in January. The Hernlens claimed Johnson stalked them by driving in front of their residence and making threats.
Looking back on it, Circuit Judge Richard Graham said he is "remorseful and upset" he did not approve Julie Herlen's request for an injunction against the man accused in the shootings.
However, the family law judge questions if it would have done any good.
Graham, the judge assigned the case, denied the request, saying "no violence was alleged and it was hard to prove stalking with the allegations" presented, according to court papers.
The next day, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office filed an aggravated stalking complaint against Johnson based on the same allegations. Johnson was awaiting trial on those charges when the shooting occurred.
"Looking back on it I would have liked to have done it differently," Graham said by telephone Tuesday. "But you review each case on a case-by-case basis."
He said while there was a possible threat of violence, at the time he did not believe the probability was there that Johnson would carry it out.
"But that is in hindsight," Graham said.

I confused by this whole restraining order deal! I mean there was not enough evidence. If I am willing to take the time and incur the expense of getting a restraining order because I do not want someone around me and the plaintiff fights it -- is that not proof enough that there might be an issue. Theoretically I don't like the plaintiff, don't want him around, yet the plaintiff still wants to be able to get close to me -- that would be enough for me. Please any lawyers out there explain why it might be so difficult to get a restraining order... Don't get me wrong I am not imply that the restraining order would have saved their lives -- could it have, maybe but doubtful -- I am just pointing out the lengths the courts go to protect the obviously ill intentioned [IMO] to be politically correct.

Three people died in this tragedy -- but there were four victims -- let us not forget the child!

"God Bless This Honorable Court" - Update

Back in February I posted about a Denver lower court throwing out the death penalty given to Robert Harlan because members of the jury discussed the Bible (see my remarks here). Well we have an update -- after Adams County prosecutor Steven Bernard asked the court to reinstate the sentence the Colorado Supreme Court just voted 3-2 not to reinstate the death penalty sentencing Mr. Harlan to life without parole instead... Besides making Mr. Harlan a taxpayer burden for the rest of his life this case scares me -- no bibles in court! I guess the court actually does believe it "the highest authority"; however, I know God is the highest authority and find it disheartening that a court that ask God to bless the "honorable" court would prove it's own dishonor by then casting God out!

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Ruling that juries cannot turn to the Bible for advice during deliberations, a divided Colorado Supreme Court threw out the death penalty for a convicted murderer because jurors discussed Bible verses.

In a 3-2 vote on Monday, justices ordered Robert Harlan to serve life without parole for kidnapping Rhonda Maloney and raping her at gunpoint for two hours before fatally shooting her.

First Hint of Withdrawal Timetable??

USATODAY.com - Iraqi official says security improving
Well could this be the first hint of a timeframe for troop withdrawal? I don't know and am not on the "need a timeframe bandwagon" -- however, even those that are on this "timeframe needed kick" should pay very close attention to statements out of Iraq. After all it has always been President Bush's contention that we would withdrawal when - and only when - Iraq could handle and be comfortable with their own security.

BAGHDAD - Interim Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said Monday that security forces were gaining the upper hand over insurgents and that Iraqi forces would secure the country by the end of next year.
'The situation is much better than it was five or six months ago,' al-Naqib said at a news conference at Baghdad's convention center. He predicted that U.S. troops would be able to begin pulling out of parts of the country and that 'hopefully, within 18 months at the most we will be capable of securing Iraq.
Al-Naqib added: 'We hope that next summer, there will be a huge reduction in the numbers of multinational patrols. In some cities, there will be no foreign troops.

Big City Reporter has Problem with Bloggers

DesMoinesRegister.com
The below are excerpts are comments by "big city" reporter Ken Fuson writing for the massively distributed Des Monies Register. I am not sure his motivation but it appears he either has issues with or envies bloggers. Mr. Fuson demonstrates a jealous streak, but what could he be jealous of; some bloggers being asked to MSM news broadcast when he has not had his opportunity. Maybe Mr. Fuson is smarter then I give him credit for and is just attempting to gain notoriety by insulting bloggers, yes I bet that is it! Well Mr. Fuson you got your wish, I know several bloggers that have already written commentary on your ridiculous "attack piece". BTW: I suppose Mr. Fuson considers this a rant...

Perhaps you have not heard of blogs. The name derives from a combination of "blather" and "logorrhea."
[...]
This has proved to be a boon to people who apparently are (A) unemployed, (B) independently wealthy, or (C) no longer content to wait on hold to get their daily fix of attention from a radio talk-show host.

Let's put it another way: You know those people who like to write letters to the editor? A blog allows them to write letters all day long, on any subject they choose, without worrying about having the profanity removed or having any of their lunatic rants checked for accuracy.
[...]
But the great thing is, if you're a blogger, you get your rants linked to by other bloggers who agree with you, or other bloggers who disagree with you. Before you know it, you've taken more "hits" than Cheech and Chong, and you will achieve your dream goal: Being invited to appear on a Mainstream Media news show to explain why the Mainstream Media no longer matter.

Mr. Fuson left out the fact that bloggers also link to the story -- wonder how many MORE hits DesMoinesRegister.com gets today and tomorrow! (Hat tip: La Shawn Barber)

UPDATE: An Iowa Libertarian's opinion here.

In Other News -- Getting Out

Top News Article Reuters.comSlow, but progressing... I really do not see how anyone can see this other than a major move toward independence for Lebanon and a good thing for the region!

BEIRUT (Reuters) - About 2,000 Syrian troops have pulled out of eastern Lebanon over the past week, a senior Lebanese security source said Monday, bringing Syria a step closer to ending its 29-year military domination of Lebanon.
The source said small units in the eastern Bekaa Valley were going home, leaving behind a division of the Syrian army as well as scores of intelligence agents.
A Syrian-Lebanese military committee is due to meet next week to set a timeline for withdrawing the 8,000 remaining forces.

Kofi Annan Gone - Maybe?

MSNBC - Job insecurity: U.N. chief awaits Iraq report
Will this report be enough to rid us of Kofi Annan -- I am not holding my breath, but one can always hope.

NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan could see his job on the line when a report comes out Tuesday detailing his son's financial gain under the Iraq oil-for-food program that was administered by the world body during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Still Limited US Coverage

Simply and update to Haven't Seen This in US NewsYet!. I just did a Google news search - it appears the only US media that has picked the story up is ABC Online. Simply amazing!

Breaking News - Large Quake Indonesia

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Large Quake Reported Off Indonesia
This can't be good!

Officials in Thailand were warning of a tsunami (search) risk Monday after a large earthquake was reported in the Andaman Sea (search).
The U.S. Geological Survey reported an 8.2 magnitude temblor in the sea 880 miles northwest of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra (search) island.