Tuesday - January 09, 2007

Chomp!

Florida 41, Ohio State 14 (Final)

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Florida—yes Florida—owned the field it wasn’t supposed to be on, embarrassing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 on Monday night to run away with the national championship.

Chris Leak and Tim Tebow showed off coach Urban Meyer’s twin quarterback system to perfection as the No. 2 Gators became the first Division I school to hold football and basketball titles at the same time.

Now, only one question remains: What about Boise State?

Playing on the very same field where the undefeated Broncos stunned Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day, Florida (13-1) routed the previously unbeaten Buckeyes (13-1).

Former Gators star Emmitt Smith did the chomp on the sidelines, punctuating the amazingly easy victory. That left Florida, Wisconsin and Louisville each with one loss, and surely will renew calls for a playoff system.

Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, then it quickly fell apart for the Buckeyes. He hobbled off minutes later with an injury and by the time he returned for the second half on crutches, Florida led 34-14.

Leak, maligned for never winning the big one, completed 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown. The Rambo-like Tebow threw for one TD and powered into the end zone for another.

Smith, meanwhile, joined a long list of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks—Jason White, Eric Crouch and Gino Torretta, among them—to fall apart in bowl games. He was just 4-for-14 with one interception and never showed off his elusive running.

Instead, defensive ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss made it a miserable night for Smith. Linebacker Earl Everett got into the act, too, running down Smith despite missing his helmet.

Florida won its second national title, adding to the one Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel brought home in 1996 under coach Steve Spurrier with a 52-20 romp over Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/09/2007 at 12:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Sports •  
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   Monday - January 08, 2007

Through The Looking Glass

“Naptime In Antarctica”

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 04:18 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
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No Book For Secret Agent Plame

Secret agent Valerie Plame who wasn’t really a secret agent who was outed by the evil Bush administration but who actually wasn’t outed by the Bush administration whose husband Joe Wilson visited Africa after his wife volunteered him to the CIA to investigate whether Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear materials and who determined Saddam was not interested and whose findings were contradicted by every intelligence agency in the world and who has also written a tell-all book and blabbed everything to the NY Times and whose wife is or is not an outed secret agent who denies she volunteered her husband for ....

.... OH NEVER MIND! The CIA has nixed her book because she had the wrong cover.

Raise your hand if you understood a single word of what I just said ....

CIA Panel Blocks Book By Outed Agent Valerie Plame
_{WASHINGTON (AFP) - Sun Jan 7, 2:18 PM ET}

The Central Intelligence Agency has shot down a book by former undercover agent Valerie Plame, whose outing led to an investigation of the highest levels of government, a magazine reported.

According to Newsweek magazine, the CIA panel that must approve writings by former employees ruled Plame can’t even mention the widely-known fact she worked for the agency because she had “nonofficial cover,” posing as a private business-woman instead of a government official.

“She believes this will effectively gut the book,” one of her advisors told the magazine asking not to be named. The magazine noted that while other former CIA officers have published books, all of which cleared the panel, few with nonofficial cover have.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield told Newsweek the panel was still having “ongoing” talks with Plame to resolve the dispute. “The sole yardstick,” he said, is that books “contain no classified information.” A spokesman for Simon and Schuster, Plame’s publisher, declined to comment.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 12:43 PM   
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The End Times

New York Choking In Strange Gas

The smell of gas throughout much of Manhattan forced the evacuation of buildings and the suspension of a commuter train service on Monday, authorities and media reported.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. “We are getting several calls of a foul odor. Our units are responding. It’s in various parts of the city,” a police spokesman said. Part of the New York-New Jersey PATH commuter train system, which carries 225,000 passengers a day, was shut as a result.

“The service has been suspended between Hoboken and 33rd (Street) and Journal Square and 33rd pending an investigation by Con Ed and the fire department,” PATH spokesman Pasquale Difulco said. New York’s CBS affiliate reported several Manhattan office buildings and schools were evacuated.

(REUTERS - NEW YORK)

Dead Birds Falling Out Of The Sky in Austin

Austin police have shut down Congress Ave. from Cesar Chavez St. to 11th St. after finding between 40 and 60 dead birds around 3 a.m. along Congress Ave. between 6th and 8th Streets.

Experts tested the air for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have killed off the birds, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said, but no traces were found. The birds will now have to be examined by experts to determine what killed them. Bird species included grackles, pigeons and sparrows.

There were no reports of any humans harmed, but a 10-block stretch of Congress Ave., several side streets and all buildings in the area were blocked off and expected to remain off-limits until about noon, Chovanetz said.

(CBS-TV 42 AUSTIN)

Killer Bees Swarming In New Orleans

Testing from the Department of Agriculture and Forestry revealed a swarm of Africanized bees—more commonly known as “killer bees”—were discovered inside a St. Bernard home in October 2006, Department Commissioner Bob Odum said Friday.

This is the farthest east Africanized bees have been found in Louisiana, Odom said. The house in question was located in the 2200 block of Esteban Street in Arabi, Odom said. The contractor hired to knock the home down noticed a high population of aggressive bees living in the structure and contacted a local beekeeper.

After discovering the severity of the problem, the beekeeper notified local mosquito control officials, who treated the area and collected samples to be sent off to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry for positive ID, Odom said.

(WWL-TV NEW ORLEANS)

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 12:21 PM   
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Motivational Poster Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 12:10 PM   
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And Justice For All

Just in case you thought the Iraqi courts were only concerned with Saddam Hussein (who is now food for worms), here is a short list of the other things that court has been up to. Notice the out-of-country “insurgents” in the list? They’re coming from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other Middle East countries and either going to the hangman’s noose or to prison for life.

The bad news is these 1,569 individuals who have been brought to justice in the last two years are just the ones who survived long enough to get into court. Allah only knows how many others were “shot while trying to escape or resisting arrest”.

Expect the body count of dead insurgents to dramatically rise as Iraqi forces take over more and more of the policing duties. The Iraqis don’t seem to care much about treating prisoners gently - or even taking them prisoner in the first place. That’s the good news ...

CCCI Convicts 48 Insurgents
Three sentenced to death, eight sentenced to life
_{BAGHDAD, Iraq (CENTCOM) - Jan. 03, 2007}

The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 48 security detainees from December 8 to 28, for various crimes including murder, kidnapping, illegal possession of special category weapons, violation of the terrorist laws, failure to renew resident identification, possessing and using a fake ID, use or attempted use of explosives, and illegal border crossing.

The trial court found a Syrian man and a Saudi Arabian man guilty of violating Article 4/1 of the Terrorist Law.  The defendants were captured June 19 in a targeted raid on Al-Qaeda members.  The defendants were found guarding a house containing a hostage and both admitted that they were responsible for guarding the hostage.  On Dec. 26 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced the men to death.

The trial court found a Sudanese man guilty of violating Article 4/1 of the Terrorist Law.  Iraqi Army Soldiers apprehended the defendant July 7, during a random bus stop.  The defendant is a media leader for Al-Qaeda and produced videos and flyers for the organization.  The defendant confessed to being a member of Al-Qaeda multiple times to both Iraqi and Multi-National Forces.  On Dec. 12 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced him to death. 

The trial court found two Iraqi men guilty of kidnapping in violation of Article 421 of the Iraqi Penal Code. MNF apprehended the defendants Aug. 30, after spotting them randomly stopping vehicles outside of Kirkuk. The defendants were armed with AK-47s and stopped a minivan full of people.  The two defendants and two other men force the people from the vehicle and starting beating one individual.  They then forced this individual into the trunk of a BMW and drove away.  As MNF followed the BMW two men with the defendants exited the vehicle and ran away.  The defendants then surrendered and MNF were able to free the hostage.  On Dec. 13 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced both men to life imprisonment.

The trial court found an Iraqi man guilty of illegal possession of special category weapons in violation of Order 3/2003. MNF captured the defendant Sept. 27, while conducting a raid on his residence.  A search of the residence revealed two large weapons caches consisting of RPG rounds, RPG launchers, mortar tubes, hand grenades, AK-47s, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, as well as execution hoods.  The weapons caches were found hidden on the roof and basement of the defendant’s home.  On Dec. 13 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The trial court found two Iraqi men guilty of violating Article 4/1 of the Terrorist Law.  MNF captured the defendants in their home in Ramadi Sept. 24 after following wires leading from an IED in the road to the defendant’s home.  On Dec. 14 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced the men to life imprisonment. 

The trial court found three Iraqi men guilty of use or attempted use of explosives, in violation of Article 345 of the Iraqi Penal Code.  MNF captured the defendants Aug. 25 after spotting a vehicle driving away from an IED site near Rutba in Al Anbar Province.  Upon stopping the vehicle MNF discovered seven 115mm High Explosive Rounds – the same type used to make the discovered IED.  On Dec. 19 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced the men to life imprisonment. 

The trial court found an Iraqi man guilty of murder and illegal possession of special category weapons in violations of Article 405 of the Iraqi Penal Code and Order 3/2003.  MNF captured the defendant Sept. 30, after a spotting him and another man placing an IED.  After a chase through the desert the defendant and another man exited his vehicle and took up a defensive position and fired upon MNF vehicles killing the driver of one MNF vehicle.  The other insurgent placed his hands on his head in order to surrender to MNF.  When MNF exited their vehicles to apprehend the surrendering man, he and the defendant fired upon MNF, killing another Soldier.  Further fire killed the defendant’s companion.  The defendant then surrendered.  Two grenades were found in his possession.  On Dec. 17 the trial panel considered all the evidence and sentenced him to two fifteen year sentences, for a total of thirty years imprisonment. 

Those convicted of illegal possession of special category weapons, failure to renew resident identification, possessing and using a fake ID, and illegal border crossing, were sentenced from between two years to 30 years imprisonment.  Those convicted included 28 Iraqis three from Saudi Arabia, two from Yemen and one each from Jordan, Syria and Sudan.

Since its reorganization, under an amendment to CPA order 13, in April 2004, the Central Criminal Court has held 1,809 trials for Coalition-apprehended insurgents.  The proceedings have resulted in the conviction of 1,569 individuals with sentences ranging up to death.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 09:15 AM   
Filed Under: • Iraq • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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The Week Ahead

You might as well get prepared for the week ahead. The war is about to begin in Washington. President Bush is scheduled to address the nation mid-week regarding the war in Iraq and his plans for adjusting our military presence. Unfortunately, the Democrats in Congress are already preparing to take control of the military and make a mess of the whole thing.

Pelosi and the Angry Donks are preparing to grill every administration official they can find. They are promising not to suddenly cut funding of the military but I’ll believe that when I see it. There are already grumblings from several of the Democrats’ more strident, Leftist idiots about forcing a vote to cut funding.

Nancy Pelosi’s “Grande Planne” to pass a slew of legislation for minimum wage increases, prescription drug reforms and other “nanny-state” issues is probably going to get sidetracked while she and her pals try to legislate the conduct of war. It looks like all we’ll hear the next week is - Iraq. Strap on your helmet, gang. The confrontation between Congress and the President is about to begin, whether the President wants it or not.

Not wanting to let anyone accuse them of missing a chance to bash Bush, NY TIME’s editorialist Paul Krugman launches a pre-emptive strike in today’s editorial entitled ”Quagmire Of The Vanities” (requires subscription). Here is an excerpt ....

Democrats Revise Agenda To Deal With War in Iraq
With Bush to Announce New Plan, Domestic Policy No Longer Primary Focus
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Monday, January 8, 2007}

Democratic leaders who had hoped to emphasize their domestic agenda in the opening weeks of Congress have concluded that Iraq will share top billing, and they plan on aggressively confronting administration officials this week in a series of hearings.

Pushed by House members who want a quick, tough response to the Iraq strategy President Bush is expected to announce this week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has backed off from her initial assertion that nothing should detract attention from the legislation she hopes to pass in the first 100 hours of House debate.

Late last week, she summoned the chairmen of the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, intelligence, Homeland Security, and Oversight and Government Reform committees to plot a series of hearings. On Thursday, Democrats will call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to defend the war-strategy shift Bush will outline in a nationally televised speech.

A House Armed Services Committee hearing with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, planned for Jan. 19 was abruptly moved to this Thursday after consultations with Pelosi. And leadership aides went to work on a response to Bush’s speech that they hope will be delivered on national television after the president’s appearance.

In the Senate, the Foreign Relations Committee will hold hearings Wednesday on the current situation in Iraq, then grill Rice on the president’s plan Thursday. Pace and Gates will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday. “Iraq is the elephant in the room,” said Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a close ally of Pelosi’s.

Democrats had hoped that the headlines and evening news would be dominated by votes in Congress to bolster homeland security, raise the minimum wage, fund stem cell research and grant the federal government authority to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare. Each of those measures will be taken up on sequential days this week, a bill-a-day approach designed to capture headlines and show the nation that Democrats can get things done.

But with Bush’s long-awaited policy address tentatively set for midweek, those much-touted bills are not likely to lead the news, and the Democratic leaders have been forced to change their tactics.

“The challenge for them is this: Iraq is the central issue. It’s an enormous problem for the president and the Republicans, but it has the suffocating effect of taking attention away from the Democrats’ domestic legislative priorities, and I think they understand that,” said Joe Lockhart, a White House press secretary in the Clinton administration.

To some Democrats, the House leaders’ response to the burgeoning war debate has been too slow and too cautious. A CBS News poll released Thursday found that 45 percent of voters want the Democratic Congress to focus on Iraq, a figure that far outstripped the percentages for the economy and jobs, at 7 percent; health care, at 7 percent; and immigration, at 6 percent. “Americans couldn’t be clearer,” the poll report concluded.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 07:27 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Iraq • Politics •  
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Media Games

I’m glad Gary McCoy pointed this out in the political cartoon below. The media has now reached the point of complete uselessness. Quite a few of our major MSM outlets are speaking out of both sides of their mouths like below.

The problem is not that the media has a Liberal bias - the problem is that they seem to be detached from reality and the bias is toward stupidity. Is it any wonder most people have no faith whatsoever in the mainstream media today? All we’re getting for news is garbage, plagiarism, incorrect reports, photoshopped pictures and blatant sensationalism purely for the sake of profit.

How do we hold the media accountable for their reporting if they scream “freedom of the press” any time they’re criticized? The answer is - we can’t ... unless we just keep turning them off, dropping newspaper subscriptions and shunning their advertisers. Sooner or later they’ll get the hint. It may take a little time though. Bear with me and let’s keep sharing information here and discussing issues out in the open. It’s the only way ...

_{Gary McCoy - Cagle Cartoons}

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2007 at 07:03 AM   
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   Sunday - January 07, 2007

Lock The Door

ARRRRRRRGGGHHHHH! This media whore has finally managed to get on my last nerve. She has more airline miles than most commercial pilots. She has been to visit with every crackpot dictator on the planet. Now she’s in Cuba. LOCK THE DOOR while she’s away, OK?

Revoke her passport. Lock her up. Shut down this three-ring circus that George Soros and other ratbags are financing. Sheehan’s fifteen minutes of “fame” ran out several hundred hours ago. Enough, already!

Sheehan in Cuba to Protest Gitmo Prison
_{HAVANA (AP) - January 7, 2007, 7:36 AM EST}

American “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan called for the closure of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as she and other activists arrived here Saturday to draw attention to the nearly 400 terror suspects held at the remote site.

Sheehan is among 12 human rights and anti-war activists who will travel across this Caribbean island next week, arriving at the main gate of the Guantanamo base in eastern Cuba on Thursday—five years after the first prisoners were flown in.

“Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not afraid of anything,” Sheehan said when asked about the possibility of U.S. sanctions for traveling to communist-run Cuba, which remains under an American trade embargo.

“What is more important is the inhumanity that my government is perpetrating at Guantanamo,” she told reporters. Sheehan, 49, of Vacaville, Calif., became an anti-war activist known as the “peace mom” after losing her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq in April 2004.

She drew international attention after camping outside President Bush’s Texas ranch to protest the war in Iraq, and has been arrested numerous times for trespassing. Sheehan arrived in Havana early Saturday evening with trip organizer Medea Benjamin of the California nonprofit groups Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace.

Benjamin said group members believed they were exempt from U.S. travel restrictions on Cuba because they were traveling as professional human rights activists who will attend a daylong international conference in the Cuban city of Guantanamo on Wednesday, the eve of their protest.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/07/2007 at 01:36 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Stoopid-People •  
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Duke Nukem

The problem with all the bleeding heart liberals and anti-war activists here in the US is that they’re 10,000 miles away from the madness that is the Middle East. It’s one thing to prance around major cities in the US carrying signs and chanting crap. It’s an entirely different matter to live in the shadow of incoming rockets every day and listen to some asshat in Teheran say he is going to wipe you off the map.

The Israeli Air Force is composed of several hundred F-16I fighters while the Iranian Air Force consists of a few dozen F4’s, F5’s, F14’s and a handful of French Mirages - plus a slew of SAM-10 missiles (almost all of which are outdated and out of service for lack of parts).

Guess who wins?

My only worry is whether the Israelis should use tactical nukes. After due consideration, I have decided it is probably best that they do to make sure the bombs penetrate the hardened targets and stop this Iranian madness before it goes one step further. After all, the screams from the UN and other Arab countries will be just as loud if they use nukes or just throw rocks. They might as well go “whole hog” if they will pardon my metaphor.

As for the peaceniks in the US, let ‘em pound sand. Better yet, deport them to Israel and let them endure a few days of abuse from Hamas and Hezbollah - then let’s see how loudly they sing “Koombayah”.

I say to the Israelis, “Let’s roll!” What have they got to lose? If the pansy-ass Liberals in the US want to tie our military’s hands and help hand over the world to insane IslamoNazis then perhaps we need to keep encouraging our friends like Ethiopia and Israel to bring the hammer down for us.

It doesn’t matter how the job gets done, as long as it gets done. Peace is never an easy thing to achieve. It’s important to remember that you just have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. I’ll have mine over-easy.

Revealed: Israel Plans nuclear Strike On Iran
_{(TIMES - UK) - January 7, 2007}

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.

Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.

“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.

The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.

Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.

Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.

Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike could range from disruption of oil supplies to the West to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world.

Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are believed to be involved in Iran’s nuclear programme:

• Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium enrichment

• A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a statement by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the enrichment process have been stored in tunnels

• A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough plutonium for a bomb

Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay Iran’s nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in fear of a “second Holocaust”.

The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that “Israel must be wiped off the map”.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/07/2007 at 12:59 PM   
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Motivational Poster Of The Day

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/07/2007 at 12:38 PM   
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Sunday Funnies

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/07/2007 at 12:31 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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   Saturday - January 06, 2007

Choices

Everybody likes having choices because no one wants to be forced to do something without an alternative. In accordance with that universal truth (and the fact that some of the Grumpy Old Farts here have been whining), I have setup the comment editing feature to allow you to choose which editor you want to use.

If you click on the word ”Comments” below each post, you can enter your comment using the old, plain-text editor (with all the good Smileys) that most of you are used to. If you wish to be creative with fonts and all the happy crap of a full-featured WYSIWIG editor, just click on the icon right after the word “Comments”.

Either way, you have a choice. Pick the one you feel comfortable with. Don’t worry ... be happy! 

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/06/2007 at 06:03 PM   
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Barking Moonbat Of The Week

This week’s award was a cinch for Cindy Sheehan after her lunatic rant at the Capitol on Wednesday. That was then, this is now. Coming to her rescue is our old friend Jacques “tête de merde” Chirac, leader of the French Resistance - the group of Euro-ratbags who fight an endless struggle against the entire whole world ... especially the United States.

Of course Jacky-boy makes an exception for Muslims in the Middle East, especially those associated with terrorism like Hamas. Since his pal Arafat kicked the bucket Chirac has been lonely - but that hasn’t stopped him from bashing the US. His latest rant earns him the award this week ....

Chirac Blasts U.S.-Led Invasion of Iraq
_{PARIS (NEWSDAY) - January 5, 2007, 11:26 AM EST}

President Jacques Chirac gave a tough critique Friday of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its fallout, saying the war destabilized the entire Middle East and allowed terrorism to spread.

In a speech to ambassadors, Chirac also renewed his call for an international conference on the Middle East, saying he was deeply concerned by the growing number of crises there.

“At Europe’s gate, the Middle East has become an epicenter of international tensions,” Chirac said. “Crises are building up and spreading.” On Iraq, Chirac suggested the problems there today justified France’s strong opposition to the invasion in 2003. “As France foresaw and feared, the war in Iraq caused upheavals whose effects have not yet finished unraveling,” he said.

“The venture exacerbated the divisions between (Iraqi) communities and undermined the very integrity of Iraq,” he said. “It weakened the stability of the region, where every country is now worried about its security and independence. It gave terrorism new terrain for expansion.”

Now, “more than ever, the priority is to return sovereignty to the Iraqis,” Chirac said. Chirac had rallied together voices against the Iraq war, the main foreign policy legacy of his 12 years in office. He is not expected to stand in elections this year, though he has not yet declared his intentions.

For months, Chirac has called for an international conference on the Middle East. The European Union should relaunch the work of the so-called Quartet peacemakers—the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations—with a proposal for a conference, he said.

Chirac said it should be “a new form of conference that, without claiming to dictate the terms of the settlement to the parties involved, would bring the new guarantees that they aspire to,” he said. “Then, I am persuaded, a true dynamic of negotiation could be launched.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/06/2007 at 09:57 AM   
Filed Under: • Awards •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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