From the war against the West

Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani appears to be the subject a political prosecution on charges of covering up the deaths of civilians at Haditha in Iraq.

....The government is doing everything it can to convict LtCol Chessani. He is the political scapegoat they must convict to satisfy Murtha and the press.

The vast resources of the military are at its disposal. The number of military investigators is virtually limitless. Government prosecutors can go anywhere, talk to anyone, and get anything, all at government expense. The Marine command structure is mandated to cooperate.

So far, the government has spent millions of our taxpayer dollars, employed over 65 Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents ─ the largest investigation in that agency’s history ─ and granted immunity to scores of witnesses, all in their attempt to make Jeffrey and the “Haditha Marines” political scapegoats.

If you want to defend a brave man who has defended us click here.

Richard Dawkins in a nutshell

The most famous atheist isn't actually an atheist, but he is intellectually honest about it. On a scale of 1-7 of atheism he's only a 6, he says, after all he's a scientist. I have a friend whose self-description as 'local atheist, universal agnostic' fits Dawkins. Tho unimpressed myself by secular humanism, I am impressed by Dawkins when he's not propounding his jejune views on Bush and Iraq. Here's a routine knockout punch by a master:

Bananaman

Polls say 'Obama'

I'm a banana.

You can judge a man by his friends

The sound of air escaping

My instinct tells me that Obama's balloon is overinflated, but at least he has the internet sewn up, right? Wrong:

"When I'm 65"

Happy Birthday tomorrow to one likeable old age pensioner. He and I were both born in Dartford, Kent. Many more, Mick. Here's an attractive Charlie Rose interview:

Obama bombs in Berlin

Says who? Says me. Germans see an anti-Bush, apologizing for America's crimes against the world. I see an image forming, even among journalists, of a callow yet grandiose candidate. The contrast of Obama's sermon to his fellow 'citizens of the world' with his non-show at a US military hospital because he couldn't make it a campaign stop is pretty vile. I still forecast a McCain landslide on the basis that Americans aren't stupid. Next polls will show McCain gaining or I'm a banana and America has mush for brains.

Bravo McCain!

Give him credit, he knows how to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are compromising America's credit-worthiness:

If elected, I'll continue my crusade for the right reform of the institutions: making them go away.

See also Paul Gigot for the lowdown on this gargantuan slice of crony capitalism:

The abiding lesson here is what happens when you combine private profit with government power. You create political monsters that are protected both by journalists on the left and pseudo-capitalists on Wall Street, by liberal Democrats and country-club Republicans.

Does bullshit float?

Obama has good teeth, a pleasant baritone and is good-looking but not a pretty boy. That's it. If this piece of fluff becomes President, America may gain affection among the infantile of all ages, but will lose the respect of adults.

VDH:

Obama appeals to the gullible and puerile......the press who claims they know better and are more sophisticated are, in fact, far more infantile than most Americans

Maestro Mick:

Almost everyday I find myself incredulous at his vapid statements. Of course what's really remarkable isn't Obama himself, but the moronic media elite who should be euthanized as genetic failures for whom continued life would be cruel.

I find myself losing respect for the American people and democracy itself...

Powerline:

Even a Senator as inattentive to his duties as Obama certainly knows what committees he serves on. For him to fabricate the claim, out of whole cloth, that the Senate Banking Committee is "[his] committee," strikes me as another sign of Obama's megalomania. That, plus more evidence that he is totally at sea without a teleprompter.

Moi:

America, I'm going to clap my hands and you will wake up. Clintons,Wright,Obama,Moore, these people are grotesques, bright, shining, strutting grotesques. It's not politics as normal, it's fart in your face farce. What do you need? Stick-on noses, clown shoes, Krusty the Clown as running mate?

The long Dark Knight

The Joker is somewhat scintillating, another Loki character to haunt our time, but the rest of the film is leaden, lacking wit or originality. The good-guy trio of Bale, Caine and Freeman is just cringemakingly scripted. I like comic-strip art, especially Gotham gothic, but it needs flair and conviction. This is just actors acting and a director directing. Another view.

A trillion here, a trillion there...

...and pretty soon you're talking real money. The USA's triple-A credit rating is coming into question. Outfits like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, AIG, Citigroup, which once were beyond question, may now get sunk by terrible risk management.

When you consider that Obama. Reid, Pelosi and McCain have all beclowned themselves on oil prices plus the tax and spend dna of both parties in America plus the depressed currency, you do have to wonder whether it's time for a downgrade. It happened to Japan.