Clipmarks | merrie's clips

Now The Surge Is Succeeding?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:13:43 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: .......continued... But the National Intelligence Estimate of Jan 2007 said this:

Coalition capabilities, including force levels, resources, and operations, remain an essential stabilizing element in Iraq. If Coalition forces were withdrawn rapidly during the term of this Estimate, we judge that this almost certainly would lead to a significant increase in the scale and scope of sectarian conflict in Iraq, intensify Sunni resistance to the Iraqi Government, and have adverse consequences for national reconciliation.

OK, so Obama opposed a surge that succeeded and advocated a policy that the NIE said at the time would lead to a disaster in Iraq.

As to whether anyone could have predicted that the surge would be effective - well, Bush did introduce it this way in his January 2007 speech:

President's Address to the Nation

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-7.html

Clip Source: justoneminute.typepad.com

As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people.

Here is an old post with links to the vast Obamafuscations last July when Obama struggled to pretend that (a) the surge was not successful and (b) he had always said the surge would succeed as it had. John Dickerson raised an excellent question about Obama's judgment:

If Obama was wrong about the tactical gains that would be made by the new strategy and wrong about how the Iraqi political leaders would react, can his larger theory about how Iraqis will respond to a troop pullout remain intact? Perhaps, but he has the burden of explanation.

Right - Obama will be in a big hurry to tackle that hypothetical "what if?" puzzle - how might Iraq have developed if his "surrender now" policy had been adopted in the winter of 2007? Who can tell?

Tags: obama concedes, surge successful

Todd Palin Digs into Job Creation for Alaskans

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:29:27 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Todd Palin — oil worker, champion snowmobiler, hunter and commercial fisherman — also has been boning up on mining lately in his role as Alaska's first spouse.

The companies that paid for the flights, a normal means of travel to remote and often roadless parts of Alaska, are both in the early stages of a lengthy approval process.

A month after the first visit, Todd Palin toured the Red Dog Mine, a lead and zinc operation in the northwestern part of the state.

That company is currently seeking permission to mine a new deposit, which would extend the life of the mine to 2031.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

On two separate occasions last fall, the husband of the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin boarded planes chartered by mining companies that want to dig for gold, zinc and lead in remote Alaska valleys.

Palin, a member of the United Steelworkers Local 4959, himself learned on the job. He began working in oil fields on Alaska's North Slope for BP Exploration Alaska in 1989, a year after he eloped with his high school sweetheart.

He took a leave from his position as a production operator at a Prudhoe Bay facility where oil is separated from water and natural gases when his wife became governor but returned six months later.

Todd Palin joined with state officials on the two mining trips, and the costs of his travel were disclosed by his wife as gifts in compliance with state ethics laws. The excursions coincide with a mini metals boom in Alaska fueled by high prices. Two new mines are scheduled to open in coming weeks and months, and four more are on the drawing board

Tags: todd palin, united steelworkers, alaska's north slope, prudhoe bay, gold-zinc-lead mining

Another Palin Smear Bites the Dust

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:15:29 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: As the Smoking Gun discovered, Scott Richter wanted them sealed — to protect himself from conspiracy theorists (h/t: William Amos):

One Palin Mystery Solved

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0905083palin1.html?link=rssfeed

Clip Source: hotair.com

So when the blogosphere discovered today (via an online court docket) that Scott Richter, a Palin associate, personally filed a sealing motion in Alaska Superior Court, well, conclusions were jumped to. Was Sarah Palin named as the other woman in a messy divorce action? Well, since Richter’s September 3 motion, a copy of which you’ll find below, was denied yesterday, his divorce filings remain open to the public. And a TSG review of the 98-page file shows that the Palins are only mentioned in Richter’s sealing request.

According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because “reporters and news agencies” were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is “friends and land owners in a remote cabin” with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the “cabin life and private life” of him and his 11-year-old son.

Tags: sarah and todd palin, scott richter, tsg report

The Balfour Declaration and the Mandate Under the League of Nations

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:00:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ........The Jewish Connection To The Land......
We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic, and geographical bonds."[10]

The purpose of post-World War I's League of Nations was to prepare those liberated from the Turks for independence. Once the indigenous populations demonstrated their ability to assume control, the mandates given to the war's victorious superpowers were supposed to be self-terminating. For the international community, justice for the Arabs meant guaranteeing their economic, civil, and religious rights. Awarding the Arabs any form of self-government within Palestine was precluded by British commitments to the Jews under the Balfour Declaration, which had been incorporated in the mandate of the League of Nations.[11]

Clip Source: globalpolitician.com

At this point in history, post-World War I, political pressure caused the international community to endorse the Jewish desire for national self-determination and acc epted that the Jewish people had a justifiable claim to return to their homeland. Significantly, in this recognition, the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate under the League of Nations make no mention of Palestinians as a separate and distinct people with their own national rights. The indigenous people were regarded as residents whose political identity was connected to the larger Arab nation.[9]

For the British, the matter was quite clear: Palestine was not a state but the name of a geographical area. This had been reinforced by the indigenous Arabs themselves.

When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to select Palestinian Arab representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, they adopted the following resolution:

Arthur Balfour
British Foreign Secretary

Tags: israel, league of nations, balfour declaration, palestinians

Sally Quinn Does Complete U-turn on Sarah Palin

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:52:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Kudos to Sally Quinn for recognizing that she was wrong about Sarah Palin. So will other media types currently sneering at Palin, such as Campbell Brown, also experience a similar revelation? I'm not holding my breath but after Sally Quinn's dramatic turnaround I guess anything is possible.

—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

Well, something must have happened in the few hours between Quinn's CNN appearance and her apology for her own statements like this on Fox's O'Reilly Factor later that day:

SALLY QUINN: You pointed out the other night that you thought I was being unfair and that I had judged her before I heard her speak and that I knew anything about her and I think you were right. I thought that she was amazing in her speech. She was funny and smart and poised and confident and she gave a great speech, beautifully delivered, and I think she is going to be a formidable opponent. So all of that, I think I was wrong about her. And I didn't know anything about her.

BILL O'REILLY: So not only did Miss Palin do a good job as you just said but your column and other columns like yours rallied the folks to her side and actually helped the McCain-Palin ticket dramatically.

QUINN: Oh, I think you're absolutely right. I think that there's been a huge backlash against the media...

[Video]

Tags: sarah palin, sally quinn, bill o'reilly's factor, fox news

A Recovering L.A. Times Reporter Blogs Sarah Live

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:47:19 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: 7:57 p.m.: I’m guessing Jack Bauer of “24″ would vote for Gov. Palin.

8:01 p.m.: Holy crap! She’s a pitbull and has opened a can of Whoop-ass on Barack Obama.

8:05 p.m.: Palin has managed to make Obama look insignificant, McCain appear heroic, and herself: a grassroots American who won’t back down from a fight.

8:09 p.m.: Palin has just hijacked the presidential campaign. I’ve got a skeptical, Obama-loving wife and some liberal sons, and they all think she killed it.

8:11 p.m.: She gets bonus points if that skirt is actually leather.

8:13 p.m.: Incredible visuals at the end: pregnant teenage daughter, goofy (but handsome) father of teenage daughter’s baby, Down’s Syndrome baby. Does anyone not have a tear in their eye?

williamlobdell.com

Clip Source: williamlobdell.com

7:33 p.m.: Great so far. Keeping the spotlight on McCain.

7:35 p.m.: Wow. Playing the mom and aunt card! Nice!

7:36 p.m.: How uncomfortable is that boyfriend? He should be at his senior prom, not on display at the RNC.

7:37 p.m.: Mother of a military man. Mother of a special needs child? What’s next? Mother of a pregnant teenager? Hold on.

7:39 p.m.: Did you see Cindy McCain checking out Todd Palin? My wife is in LOVE!

7:41 p.m.: Is hockey an American sport?

7:42 p.m.: So far, she’s killing it.

7:46 p.m.: Do you hear that? It’s America falling in love with Sarah Palin.

7:48 p.m.: Governor’s jet on E-Bay? Classic.

7:52 p.m.: She’s made a great impression. Tough administrator, not a part of the old boys’ network. As my wife just said, “She makes me want to go to Alaska.”

7:54 p.m.: The line about “authoring two memoirs” but not a single bill in the Senate was great.

7:56 p.m.: Oh boy. She is Obama’s worst nightmare. An attractive politician with a great sense of humor is a lethal combo.

Tags: sarah palin, rnc, william lobdell-blogger

Moscow’s Plan is to Redraw the Map of Europe: Mikheil Saakashvili

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:55:56 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Since Russia’s invasion, its forces have been “cleansing” Georgian villages in both regions – including outside the conflict zone – using arson, rape and execution. Human rights groups have documented these actions.

It hopes the west will forget ethnic cleansing in Abkhazia drove out more than three-quarters of the local population – ethnic Georgians, Greeks, Jews and others – leaving the minority Abkhaz in control.

Last week Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president, put us on alert: “Russia does not really know where it begins and where it ends.” He noted that the Moscow regime is “a lot more sophisticated” than the Soviets under Leonid Brezhnev. He should know – he was on the front line the last time Russia invaded a European country.

Backing Georgia with Europe’s political and financial institutions is a powerful response.
The most potent western response to Russia is to stay united and firm by providing immediate material and political support.

Clip Source: www.ft.com

Any doubts about why Russia invaded Georgia have now been erased. By illegally recognising the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, made clear that Moscow’s goal is to redraw the map of Europe using force.

This war was never about South Ossetia or Georgia. Moscow is using its invasion, prepared over years, to rebuild its empire, seize greater control of Europe’s energy supplies and punish those who believed democracy could flourish on its borders. Europe has reason to worry.

Our first duty is to highlight Russia’s Orwellian tactics. Moscow says it invaded Georgia to protect its citizens in South Ossetia. Over the past five years it cynically laid the groundwork for this pretence, by illegally distributing passports in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, “manufacturing” Russian citizens to protect. The cynicism of Russia’s concern for ethnic minorities can be expressed in one word: Chechnya

This cynicism has become hypocritical and criminal

Tags: georgia, south ossetia and abkhazia, medvedev, georgian "cleansing", arson, rape and execution, human rights groups, vaclav havel, czech president

CNN's "Fair and Unbiased" News Reporting on Both Sides

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:11:23 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: .......As a big fan of truth in advertising, I like it!...

Clip Source: exurbanleague.com

Looks like McCain is tired of the wall-to-wall anti-Palin rhetoric of CNN:

According to CNN, Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) pulled out of a scheduled interview with the network after a segment with Campbell Brown and a top McCain spokesman Monday night in which Brown asked for examples of a foreign-policy decision made by Republican vice president pick Sarah Palin.

McCain was scheduled to appear on Larry King Live, but CNN's Wolf Blitzer said Tuesday that the campaign told the news network they thought Brown's interview with spokesman Tucker Bounds was "over the line."

CNN said it disagreed and it is committed to covering both sides of issues.

Yep, Obama's side and Biden's side.

In other news, CNN has officially decided to change their logo:

Tags: cnn, obama/biden, mccain/palin

Credit Where It's Due [Mark Steyn]

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:46:17 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: I trust even now Maureen Dowd is working on a hilarious new column mocking proposed names for the Governor's first grandchild. Perhaps Richard Cohen can just take the week off and they can rerun his insightful analysis comparing the Palin nomination to Caligula making his horse a consul. Whereas we sophisticates all know that if McCain were as smart as Obama he'd have nominated a dead horse to be his consul. No wait...

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

I would like to thank the US media for doing such a grand job this last week of lowering expectations by portraying Governor Palin - whoops, I mean Hick-Burg Mayor Palin - as a hillbilly know-nothing permapregnant ditz, half of whose 27 kids are the spawn of a stump-toothed uncle who hasn't worked since he was an extra in Deliverance.

How's that narrative holding up, geniuses? Almost as good as your "devoted husband John Edwards" routine?

Tags: sarah palin, us media, john edwards

Meanwhile, in the convention hall

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:30:58 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Ooooooooh, Sarah-Bara-COO-dah!
If you read the actual lyrics though, this clearly is a song to be sung by Barack Obama. He's just realized that he's about to be ambushed from the weeds by the Barracuda, and forced to his knees. Not long ago, he and "the porpoise" (Joe Biden, pre-hair plugs) were just "Selling a song," with "no right, no wrong" — just playing "a whisper game" involving a "name." This is clearly a reference to the "McSame" meme on which they were relying so much. And "sell me, sell you," the porpoise and the singer croon to each other in close harmony. Oh, yeah: It's about Obama and Biden, all right.

Clip Source: www.beldar.org

As I type this, the sound system from the GOP convention floor is cranked up all the way, playing Heart's galloping mega-hit from 1977 (my college graduation year, yay!) — "Barracuda."

And to think just how many times I've listened to this song over the last thirty years without realizing how profound it would become! And the background in this video (from back when the Wilson sisters were both incredibly hot) shows that, yes, it's patriotic!

[Video]

These GOP delegates are not a-skeered anymore about the notion of their Veep nominee debating Joe Biden, or Barack Obama for that matter. No, indeed, they're ready to start the pre-debate tail-gate party. Right now. Bring it, Slow Joe!

Many of us didn't even know how politically comatose we were. This is like being brought back from a long period of drugged unconsciousness, only to find out that while we were asleep, we all won the lottery! Pardon us if we feel a little bit giddy.

Tags: gop convention, sarah, debates

VP Candidate Biden Is No Friend to File Sharing, Net Neutrality Protection or Online Privacy

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:47:41 GMT

clipped by: The REAL Napster
clipper's remarks: I wonder how many young voters know this about the choice their 'messiah' has made for them? I'll bet very few. I'll make sure the word quickly gets out.

Clip Source: gizmodo.com

VP Candidate Biden Is No Friend to File Sharing, Net Neutrality Protection or Online Privacy

CNet's Declan McCullagh wrote up an informative history of Joe Biden's tech-related voting record—if Biden's name rings a bell, it's because he's the guy Barack Obama picked to be his vice president last Friday night. Maybe you don't care about the doings in Washington, but you may want to know that Biden considers a lot of what you do care about criminal activity. Here's what I'm talking about:

• He asked Congress to spend $1 billion to monitor peer-to-peer activity. (In fairness, much of this is to prevent child pornography, but the tactic is apparently a little blunt.)

• He has expressed support for internet taxes and internet filtering in schools and libraries.

• Biden was one of just four senators invited to attend a celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA's Jack Valenti and the RIAA's Hillary Rosen, two of American file-sharer's most wanted.

Tags: joe biden, riaa, net neutrality, taxes, p2p, jail

Team Obama's Response to the Political Speech of the 21st Century

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:38:49 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: UPDATE (Wed Sep 3 @ 11:00pm): Here is the real Obama response. Lemme tell ya, if they can't tell the difference between George W. Bush and Sarah Barracuda, they have bigger problems than I ever suspected.

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/03/yeah-it-was-a-good-speech-but/

Clip Source: www.beldar.org

I just heard Brit Hume read aloud the Obama-Biden campaign's response to Gov. Palin's acceptance speech. It went:

George Bush. George Bush. George Bush.

That's not an exact quote, but it's awfully close. I promise you there was no other substance to it at all.

Meantime, I'm very sure I can hear a thin, persistant whine. (It's all the air going out of the Obama balloon.)

Prediction: The smear attempts will return with renewed force and extra desperation before dawn tomorrow. But it's too late.

America has a new sweetheart.

Tags: gov. palin's acceptance speech, team obama response

Why the Press Claims, Falsely, That Sarah Palin Wasn’t Vetted

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:30:38 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Because They Got Surprised By The VP Pick

I was impressed by the story of someone who seemed to be a political success, yet comes from a slice of middle America, as opposed to the moneyed elite from which most politicians spring. (I still think this aspect of her story is going to prove to be enormously powerful, in a way few expect. Americans will relate to Sarah Palin.) I was excited by the idea of someone who could bring life to a tired Republican ticket.

My friend hadn’t heard of Palin. But readers of Beldar had. And readers of my site had.

So when I was on vacation, woke up in Curry Village at Yosemite, fired up the Treo, and saw that McCain had picked Palin, I was thrilled.

But at the same time, most of the press was saying: “Huh? Who dat?” To their detriment, they don’t read Beldar. So while you and I and Beldar were immediately rejoicing, the press corps — which considers itself the ultimate insiders — felt left out in the cold.

And now they’re pissed off.

Clip Source: patterico.com

The spoiled little children in the media are throwing a widdle tantrum because they weren’t kept in the loop.

Guess what, media? Some of us had heard of Sarah Palin before, and were hoping that she was exactly who John McCain would pick.

Back in June, Beldar had a prescient post in which he said: “I’ve spent several hours now reading about, and watching video clips of, 44-year-old Alaska governor Sarah Heath Palin.” I linked that post and tossed off the obvious cheap jokes that that line invites, given that Beldar is a middle-aged guy talking about spending hours watching clips of an attractive middle-aged woman.

But beneath the gentle ribbing, I linked that post for a genuine reason: I read what Beldar had to say, and I, too, was impressed.

I was impressed by the story of a person who courageously took on the entrenched political establishment in Alaska, at risk to her own political career — and won, and became enormously popular.

Tags: sarah palin, mccain vp candidate, media

And the Beast Shall Eat Itself

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:54:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: A hot microphone, a revelation of dishonesty, and the violation of a long-held gentleman's agreement destroyed the credibility of the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan today, and may have changed the complexion of the American news media forever.

Noonan revealed herself a hypocrite, and MSNBC, a network that has abandoned all illusions of objective journalism in favor of naked advocacy for Barack Obama and an exclusive allegiance to partisan politics of the far left wing of the Democratic Party, shattered a common courtesy between journalists, in order to tear another journalist down for a minor temporary gain.

All bets are off now, all gentleman's agreements dead.

Clip Source: confederateyankee.mu.nu

Noonan published an article just this morning labeling Sarah Palin as "a real and present danger to the American left, and to the Obama candidacy."

This same afternoon on MSNBC after a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Noonan were captured on still-live microphones ridiculing McCain's running mate.

[Video]

With that leak, Noonan's credibility as a columnist was severely damaged if not destroyed, a fact she seems to realize even as she becomes the first casualty as a long held gentleman's agreement among journalists to overlook each others biases, faults, mistakes and lies has been ripped apart. The media now no longer looks after their own, and naked partisanship is now the order of the day.

After being exposed, Noonan wrote that she was "mugged by the nature of modern media," which is both absolutely true and utterly irrelevant.

Every indication is that the raw video was leaked directly from an increasingly partisan MSNBC to liberal blog Talking Points Memo.

Tags: msnbc, chuck todd, mike murphy, peggy noonan, sarah palin, john mccain, talking points memo

FREE Online HTML Training Course!

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:53:26 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Welcome to HTML
Introduces the basics of what Web pages are and how they work.

HTML commands
Creating HTML with a Text Editor

Creating a Web Page
Provides a guide to creating a Web page.

Tags for every HTML page
Paragraphs and line breaks
Headings

It's Easy

1. Fill in the simple registration form below.

* Click the "Submit Registration" button.

* A e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address you use to register.

* Click the link in the confirmation e-mail to confirm your registration.

* This link will take you to the Free Courses Gateway page. Add this page to your favorites to be able to return to the free courses as much as you'd like.

* Select the course you'd like to take.

* Begin taking your free course.

Clip Source: www.e-learningcenter.com

FREE Online HTML Training Course!
HTML: Start Creating Your Own Web Pages

Take a FREE HTML Course to find out what online e-learning is all about and how it works. It's a free full training course, taking approximately 5 hours to complete!

HTML: Start Creating Your Own Web Pages is one of 80 courses in our Web Design online training subscription. The Web Design Pack contains online courses from beginning courses, like this one, to advanced development courses like XML

Synopsis

HTML: Start Creating Your Own Web Pages presents the basic skills needed to use HTML for building a Web page.

Audience
This course is for anyone who needs to understand how HTML is used to develop pages for the World Wide Web.

HTML Course Objectives

After completing HTML: Start Creating Your Own Web Pages, the user should be able to:

Recognize HTML commands

Enter some text and basic HTML tags

Format text on the Web page

Add links to other pages

Put images on the Web page

Tags: free online course, web design, commands, tags, images