Good News in Iraq: Attack Levels Lowest Since 2003

Good News in Iraq:
NOVEMBER ATTACKS IN IRAQ LOWEST Since 2003

---

It's Good News When Even Good News isn't News Anymore


Outside of a few high-profile bombings targeted at public confidence, attacks in November fell to their lowest monthly level since the Iraq war began.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander here, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for a spate of bombings that has killed nearly 50 people in Baghdad and elsewhere since Monday. The blasts took place despite an 80 percent drop in attacks nationwide since March, Austin said.

At least 33 people were killed and dozens wounded in multiple bombings Monday against Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and Mosul. Another 15 died in blasts Tuesday in the northern cities of Mosul and Tal Afar and in the southern city of Iskandariyah.

One civilian was killed and five were wounded Wednesday when a magnetic bomb attached to a minibus went off as the vehicle was carrying Education Ministry employees to work in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Good news from Iraq was first sporadic, but has now become a constant over the last six months.

So much so that good news from Iraq is no longer much news at all.


by Mondo Frazier
image: dbkp file

Dangerous World for Obama: Five Places Obama Will Be Tested

The Five Obama Foreign Policy Tests:
Obama's Not Even Sworn In Yet But
Russia, Terrorists, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran
Have Started the Testing of Obama

---

Americans were assured that the world couldn't wait until the election of a President Obama--and it was true. The world didn't wait until Obama officially takes office on January 20 to start testing the former junior senator from Illinois.

Joe Biden called it during the presidential campaign: Within six months, Barack Obama will be tested by countries around the globe if he won. [Joe Biden: Elect Obama and We’ll Have an International Crisis]

The Mainstream press didn't address Biden's comments much--other than feature numerous campaign spokesmen "clarifying" Biden's remarks. Obama's lack of experience or credentials wasn't a topic for polite MSM conversation: it was much more pleasant to write about what "Change" really meant.

Within hours of Barack Obama winning the 2008 election, Russia announced it was putting missiles next to NATO countries. This wasn't the only wake-up call for the new administration. There are other countries and groups seemingly lined up to see what the United States' response will be to global challenges.

We've picked out four of the earliest ones.

---

• Test #1: Russia and Europe
  
  From Obama's First Diplomatic Test:
  
  

  The day after Obama's election, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev publicly threatened to deploy missiles near the borders of two NATO allies to counter the Bush Administration's plans to install antimissile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russian announcement, rolled out during an elaborate ceremony, was timed to put one of the most contentious issues between Moscow and Washington on Obama's table right away. Obama and his advisers took it as an intentional provocation aimed at testing the President-elect.

  
  
  TIME then makes an amazing statement: "In fact, Obama's biggest challenge lies not in the tone he takes with the Russians but in the substantive policy choices he makes."
  
  What is this? Won't "acting presidential" pacify the Russians? It certainly worked on the American Mainstream Media during the election. It seems a little late in the game for TIME to talk "substantive policy choices" after the election.
  
  Unlike the MSM, Russia will not be swayed by a confident Obama style only. Like their invasion of Afghanistan during Jimmy Carter's term, the Russians will be watching U.S. responses and adjusting their policy accordingly.
  
  
  
• Test #2: Iraq and Afghanistan
  
  Obama ran a relentless campaign against George W. Bush--who wasn't a candidate. But Obama will find that it was Bush's surge policy--in stark contrast to Obama's plan to beat a hasty retreat--that carried the day in Iraq.
  
  From early indications, Obama will roughly follow the Bush agenda for Iraq; no doubt disturbing his anti-war supporters who helped him secure the Democrat nomination. It's been quiet in Iraq the last several months: some want to declare victory.
  
  But the incoming Obama administration may be tested by all parties in Iraq, including the Iraqi government.
  
  Al-Qaida seems detested, dejected and defeated, but they may be lying dormant. They will monitor developments and American policy and look for any openings to test the new president.
  
  Afghanistan is a different matter.
  
  The Afghan central government is corrupt; NATO allies--with the exception of Britain--are not much good once shooting starts; and, the Taliban appears to be getting stronger as the war wears on.
  
  It's promising that during the campaign, Obama did support the war in Afghanistan. So, cutting-and-running is probably not his first option from the opium capital of the world.
  
  Obama has also said that he recognizes the situation in Afghanistan is worsening. What actions will he take in response?
  
  
• Test #3: Biological and Nuclear Terror
  
  From Panel Fears Use of Unconventional Weapon:
  

  An independent commission has concluded that terrorists will most likely carry out an attack with biological, nuclear or other unconventional weapons somewhere in the world in the next five years unless the United States and its allies act urgently to prevent that.
  
  In a report to be released this week, the Congressionally mandated panel found that with countries like Iran and North Korea pursuing nuclear weapons programs, and with the risk of poorly secured biological pathogens growing, unconventional threats are fast outpacing the defenses arrayed to confront them.
  
  “America’s margin of safety is shrinking, not growing,” the bipartisan panel concluded.

  
  
  Pakistan is a particular area for concern, with terrorists with an eye toward causing death and destruction likely to come from that U.S. ally. It's suspected that the Mumbai terrorists came from Pakistan, where they likely trained and prepared.
  
  “Pakistan is an ally, but there is a grave danger it could also be an unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States — possibly with weapons of mass destruction,” the report said.
  
  
• Test #4: India and Pakistan
  
  ABC News called Mumbai "Obama's first foreign policy test". From Mumbai: Obama's First Foreign Policy Test:
  

  American officials believe the terrorists may be Pakistani extremists bent on turning the disputed Kashmir region along the border with India into a separate Islamic state.
  ...
  As Obama continues to work with the current administration to prepare for a seamless transition, history shows that foreign policy and national security cannot be put on hold during presidential transitions.

  
  
  Mumbai was seen by some, including Melanie Phillips, as another battle in the worldwide Jihad now being fought.
  
  One wrong move and the world could witness the first nuclear war between the countries on the Indian subcontinent.
  
  
• Test #5: A nuclear armed Iran
  
  Iran is not going to change its headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons--or its reasons for acquiring them--because of pleasant talk, smiles and handshakes. The Islamic Republic respects one thing: power.
  
  What actions will a President Obama take?
  
  Hopefully, they'll be wiser than the policies of ex-president, Jimmy Carter.
  
  From Obama's First Foreign Policy Tests
  
  

  Successive, Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations have appeased the Islamists in Iran, starting with the catastrophic Carter administration, which secretly assisted the Islamist overthrow of the pro-U.S. Shah, a modernizing monarch, in a craven, cynical attempt to curry favor with the Ayatollah Khomeini.
  ...
  China Confidential analysts believe that Iran's Hitlerian maniac-in-chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (whom President-elect Obama has offered to meet in face-to-face talks) is determined to announce a major nuclear breakthrough in time for this February's 30th anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Republic.

Five tests for President-elect Obama.

The world will be watching to see how he scores.

Americans hope he gets a passing grade.


by Mondo Frazier
image: dbkp file

Culture: Iraq Good News, Culture Wars Madness and Idiot of the Week

Culture Watch Vol. 37
Nancy Morgan
Right Bias.com

---

The Obama campaign continues its media fueled juggernaut. Despite McCain now within the margin of error, the Media Declares Obama The Winner. Obama ads are now embedded in video games, and government schools even have a textbook that includes a chapter on Obama. One Middle school was ordered to remove a huge Obama poster hanging over the front entrance. I don't know about you, but this guy is starting to scare me.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, there is lots of unreported,

GOOD NEWS:

Fox News appears to be the only media reporting on the excellent news coming out of Iraq. Baghdad has actually started to disarm. Iraqi soldiers have been collecting private guns around the capitol. Now, only citizens with the proper permits can keep their weapons.

Remember Fallujah? As in, 'the bloody battle of..?' Well, things have changed. Last February, there were 8,000 Marines stationed there to ensure security. Now there are only 3,000. And by next month, there will be none. Zero, Zip. All across Iraq our troops are quietly leaving - and so far the Iraqis are doing a pretty good job of keep their country terrorist free. Dare we say Mission Accomplished??


Oh, our guys also killed the number 2 al-Qaeda leader in Iraq - a Moroccan guy known for his ability to recruit and motivate foreign fighters. With any luck, he is now enjoying the company of 72 vegetarians in the great hereafter.

In other good news, Iran has decided to limit child executions. A new judicial directive bans the execution of kids for drug crimes but keeps capitol punishment for those convicted of murder. Talk about baby steps.

CULTURE:

Bad news on the culture front. A new poll shows a full 69% of Democrats agree with Obama's socialist 'spread the wealth' position. And conservative icon Bill Buckley's son, Christopher, has decided to endorse Obama. He has since resigned from his dad's flagship magazine, National Review. Go figure.

Good news in France as Frenchmen decide to stand up for their country - Now, any football match before which France's National Anthem is booed, will be immediately stopped.
San Francisco will be voting on a measure this November to diss Bush in a big way by naming a sewage treatment plant after him. This is what liberals consider 'cute.' This is what conservatives consider an appalling lack of manners and class. One thing for sure - San Fran won't ever see a nickel of my vacation dollars.
God has gotten the boot in Washington. It seems another revision of America's religious history has been underway - this time at the $621 million Capitol Visitor Center due to open in a couple months.

For some reason, sex seems to be a major front in the culture wars. The good news is that sex offenders in Maryland must post this sign on their residences, in order to give trick-or-treaters a heads up that a pervert lives there.

In a further push towards androgyny, men are now invading women's fashion. It seems men's bras and mascara aren't enough. Now the truly 'with it' metrosexual is sporting 'manyhose.' Another cute idea from the left. For the record - I, nor anyone I know, will ever date a man wearing mantyhose. Yech.

Over in Dubai, a couple, who no doubt believed that all cultures are equal, was sentenced to jail for having public sex.

On the education front, an elementary school teacher who decided to have a sex-change operation and spring it on her class with no warning has a few parents spanking mad. (Can I say that?)

In what is called 'higher education,' thousands of useful idiots cum professors have signed a petition in support of domestic terrorist and fellow teacher (and friend of Obama), William Ayers. Remember him? He's the guy that tried to blow up the Pentagon and, to this day, regrets not being able to do so. Maybe Obama will make him head of Homeland Security.

Last, but not least, a homeless 22 year-old man killed a New York City college student because he was bored.

TRIVIA:

Check out the new, all too green, air-powered car. Its called the AirPod. Expect a huge decrease in the Green population if eco-idiots decide to drive this on the same road as a semi.

A new study has determined what I knew years ago: Bottled water is no purer than tap water. Also reporting on the obvious, another study has found that you have to listen to 7 late night jokes about Republicans for every 1 joke about Democrats. What makes this disturbing is the fact that late night talk shows are the major source of political news for most young people.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK:

The hands down winner of this week's Idiots Award is Ireland's biggest bookmaker Paddy Power. He decided Thursday that he would pay out early more than 1 million euros on bets that Obama will be the next US president.


Space constraints and the plethora of idiots has resulted in RightBias launching a full page of winners and runners-up in our new weekly 'Idiots Of The Week Awards'. Check it out for more absurdities.
Till next week, keep smiling,

by Nancy Morgan
Right Bias.com

Culture Watch may be reprinted, with attribution to RightBias.com

Culture: Lots of Iraqi Good News, Few Idiots of the Week

Culture Watch vol. 36
Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
October 13, 2008

God is still smiling.

---

No, Shirley, the world hasn't melted down. Despite the media insistence that the US is once again facing an unprecedented crisis, there remains much to celebrate.

Yes, the US seems to have started down the path of socialism. The good news is, Americans are starting to realize this. And they're starting to protest. Polls are showing that a vast majority of the American people are, once again, at odds with the political and media elites. They are against the recent bailouts of Wall Street. And even though a new global poll found of 17 countries found a huge preference for Obama to be our next president in 16 of those countries, the same poll showed America still preferred McCain.

As the media focus on all the problems of the world, almost unnoticed, is the fact that there is still plenty of:

GOOD NEWS


Remember Iraq? Not too long ago it was problem number one for the American people. Lo and behold, Iraq is now doing very nicely. The Iraqi stock exchange is booming. Last month, the general index increased 40%. Year to date, Iraq's fledgling stock exchange has increased 25%, due to improved security.


Remember Sadr City? Until 6 months ago, Sadr City was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war. Today, schools are back in session. As we reported last week, Baghdad is in the process of being turned into a vacation hotspot. Can we say 'Mission Accomplished' yet?

It looks like Iraq thinks so. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister has told Britain that their combat forces are no longer necessary to maintain security. Go on home, he says.


Our military services, including their reserve components, have all met their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008. I guess our military is doing fine, despite what the media would have us believe.

With the war on terror increasingly including Afghanistan, the word is, we're kicking butt there, too. Taliban fighters suffered one of their heaviest defeats on Sunday when scores were killed in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. Its getting so terrorists can't find a safe haven anywhere these days.




Other terror nations, like Iran, are starting to feel the crunch of lowered gas prices, with oil prices plunging as we speak. This is bad news for the bad guys. Lower oil prices are cutting into their terror budgets in a big way. Who knows, pretty soon these countries may not be able to afford all those one way tickets to martyr's paradise.

For Americans, however, its good news indeed. The national average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas fell 35.03 cents to $3.3079 a gallon on October 10 from $3.6582 two weeks earlier.

Despite the financial crisis that has left America and other highly ranked nations facing market meltdown, the US has again topped a widely-watched index ranking country competitiveness.
Meanwhile there is also good news in the
CULTURE WAR:

The left suffered a devastating defeat as the Supreme Court refused to grant a new trial to one of their icons, convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. I guess Mumia will have to be content to be the left's new martyr. And he didn't even have to blow himself up. Just shoot a cop. Go figure.

In California, the words 'bride' and 'groom' have been reinstated on all marriage license applications, replacing the androgynous 'applicant A,' and 'applicant B.' Hey, its a start.
In Arizona, Americans now have the right to sport 'choose life' license plates. A small but important victory, achieved only after a long legal fight.

A McDonalds executive who had been on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has stepped down following a successful boycott of McDonalds.

A little noticed news item has huge ramifications for our floundering political system. In Indiana, two challengers for a congressional seat have agreed to be hooked up to lie detectors during a debate. The incumbent's party dismissed the idea as 'bizarre,' which indicates to me that they have the most to hide. Here's hoping this becomes a trend.


More good news - RightBias could not find enough idiots this week to publish a separate list. You'll have to be content with just one:
IDIOT OF THE WEEK AWARD:

Bureaucrats in Switzerland win first place this week. Apparently, geneticists in Switzerland must now conduct their research on genetically modified rice, corn and apples 'without trampling on a plant's dignity.' Which begs the question, "How does one humiliate an apple?" Inquiring minds want to know.

In these chaotic times, I hope you all remember that there's plenty of good news out there. America has survived far worse things than venal politicians and amoral rent seekers.


Till next Monday, keep smiling,


by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com

Culture Watch may be reprinted, with attribution to RightBias.com

Sign up to receive Culture Watch in your email

Obama Tried to Delay Iraq-US Troop Agreements

Why isn't Obama denying Amir Taheri's charges?
He admited to it in June to MSNBC!





[NOTE: The New York Post's Amir Taheri, in "OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL", "discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for."]


We've discovered an MSNBC article which directly contradicts Obama's defense of his negotiations with the Iraq government.

Taheri layed out the Obama spin in today's followup to his Monday article:

The Obama campaign has objected [to my assertions]. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US military personnel in Iraq) and the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA, to settle the legal basis for the US military presence in Iraq in the months and years ahead).

The Obama camp says I confused the two. It continues: "On the Status of Forces Agreement, Sen. Obama has always said he hoped that the US and Iraq would complete it - but if they did not, the option of extending the UN mandate should be considered.

"As to the Strategic Framework Agreement, Sen. Obama has consistently said that any security arrangements that outlast this administration should have the backing of the US Congress - especially given the fact that the Iraqi parliament will have the opportunity to vote on it."




If there is any confusion, it's in Obama's position - for the two agreements are interlinked: You can't have any US military presence under one agreement without having settled the other accord. (Thus, in US-Iraqi talks, the aim is a comprehensive agreement that covers both SOFA and SFA.)

Unfortinately for Barack Obama, he's already on the record as having said that his discussion with Zebari was about both the SOFA and SFA. This from a June article from MSNBC:

He said he told Zebari that negotiations for a Status of Forces agreement or strategic framework agreement between the two countries should be done in the open and with Congress's authorization and that it was important that that there be strong bipartisan support for any agreement so that it can be sustained through a future administration. He argued it would make sense to hold off on such negotiations until the next administration.

"My concern is that the Bush administration--in a weakened state politically--ends up trying to rush an agreement that in some ways might be binding to the next administration, whether it was my administration or Sen. McCain's administration," Obama said. "The foreign minister agreed that the next administration should not be bound by an agreement that's currently made."

We've got Obama dead to rights on this. Start the investigation!

by rizzuto
image: dbkp file
Source: Why isn't Obama denying Taheri's charges? He admited to it in June to MSNBC!

John Edwards, Obama Energy Plan Top Culture Watch

Culture Watch, Vol. 27
Nancy Morgan
Right Bias


Father of the Year, John Edwards

John Edwards has been caught with his pants down. The recipient of the 2007 Father of the Year Award was finally exposed by 'tabloid' National Enquirer as having an affair and allegedly fathering a child as his wife Elizabeth is dying of cancer. Conservatives weren't surprised but some are amazed at the absolute sincerity Edwards evinced as he lied about the affair before he was forced to admit the truth. The old media remained silent as long as they could, until forced by events to actually report the downfall of their golden boy.



The Edwards scandal was a somewhat welcome relief from all Obama, all the time, but the Messiah still got his share of face time before retiring to Hawaii for a week long vacation. Phew. Most notably with his solution to America's energy crisis - inflate your tires. Obama also stated, with a straight face, "for the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet, we must end the age of oil." Good grief.

Obama accuses McCain of being in the pocket of big oil, even though Exxon company execs have contributed more to Obama than to McCain. Hmmm.

The Denver City Council has passed an ordinance barring protesters from carrying buckets of feces during the Democratic National Convention. For the second week, Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll reports both candidates are tied at 44% each. In a much needed break from the eternal campaign, the media has turned its focus on:

THE OLYMPICS:

The Summer Games in Beijing are in full swing. The opening ceremony garnered record ratings for NBC. The smog hanging over Beijing is getting so bad that the International Olympic Committee may have to consider postponing or shifting events.

With the eyes of the world on China, I figured this week's article would deal, once again, with 'China's Dirty Little Secret.' Most Americans would be shocked to know that China has, for years, engaged in the trafficking of organs and other body parts from their executed prisoners. Actually, this practise is not a secret, its just ignored.




GOOD NEWS:

On the energy front, the Department of Interior last week published proposed regulations to establish a commercial oil shale program that could result in the addition of up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from lands in the western US.
The price of oil has dropped almost 20% in only three weeks. If the trend continues into September, its possible most of the inflationary spike of the last 12 months will disappear. Cool jeans. Meanwhile, the GOP is continuing their protest against the Democrats absolute refusal to allow a vote on offshore drilling.

'The Obama Nation' has been at the top of the best-seller charts since its release. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's book 'Know Your Power' sold only 2,737 copies in its first week. No wonder Democrats hate and fear the free-market system.

A state appeals court has reversed itself and ruled that parents in California have the right to home-school their own children, even if they don't have a teaching credential. Good thing, too, as the California legislature just approved AB 2567 which calls for an official day of commemoration in all government schools of homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality.

In Iraq, the good news continues. Iraq has resumed oil exploration after a 20-year break. Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr intends to disband his once-feared Mahdi Army militia and remake it as a social services organization. Translation: We whipped his b***. God Bless America. Meanwhile, Iran has decided to scrap death by stoning.

CULTURE:


Publisher Random House has pulled a novel about the Prophet Mohammed's child bride (experts differ as to whether she was 8 or 10 years old) fearing the book 'could incite acts of violence.' In response to this blatant appeasement, RightBias.com has decided to feature Muslim Cartoon Week all this week. Because we can. Hope you check it out and forward to your friends.

Greyhound has scrapped an ad campaign that extolled the relaxing upside of bus travel after one of their passengers decapitated a fellow passenger and proceeded to eat him. Animal rights fanatics PETA jumped on this story and posted an ad on its website comparing this horrific beheading to how humans kill animals for food. Yech.Institute for Internet Addiction Recovery and a death row inmate scheduled for execution says he's too fat to be put to death.

ESSENTIAL TRIVIA:


An astute stamp collector recently discovered that one of the Old Glorys in the U.S. postal Service's "Flags 24/7" series appears to have 14 stripes. Oh, lest I forget, the Post Office had a net loss of more than a billion dollars in the third quarter of this fiscal year. That's our money they're talking about. Sigh.

Chicago has been voted the worst nanny state in the U.S. - the city with the most stringent regulations interfering with the exercise of personal freedoms. Hey, isn't that where Obama is from?

Airlines are set to cut 60 million seats by years end and Forbes has come out with their list of the fastest dying cities.


IDIOT OF THE WEEK:

Again, a tie. First place has to go to another Father of the Year - a Gulf Coast man who was charged with murder after he said he gave his 15 year-old son powerful prescription drugs because he wanted the boy to know "how to party right."

Second place goes to the idiot that confessed to a 7 year-old murder on a national radio show. Ah, the eternal quest for those fleeting 15 minutes.

Till next Monday, keep smiling,


by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com

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Culture Watch 26: Ethanol Damages and

Culture Watch, Vol.26 Nancy Morgan RightBias.com August 4, 2008

Click for video: "Leave Barack Alone!"
[WARNING: Explicit Language]


The good news is, Congress is adjourned for the next five weeks. The bad news is, Pelosi and pals were successful in avoiding a vote on offshore drilling. Just because 70% of the American people want to drill doesn't mean that the Democrats are going to hand the Republicans a political victory this close to the election. This endless, eternal, ongoing:

ELECTION '08:

Obama's star is becoming tarnished, much to the chagrin of the old media. Those nasty polls continue to show a race that, as we speak, is now tied. Not one to take this sitting down, Obama has become even bolder. He just announced his new 'emergency economic plan.' In what can only be described as pure socialism, Obama has proposed giving families a $1,000 stimulus check, funded from "windfall profits from big oil." A modern day Robin Hood, this guy.

Speaking of Obama, as we have been for what seems an eternity, "The One" has offered a solution to high gas prices. Americans, inflate your tires! I kid you not.

Meanwhile, 30% of conservative Democrats say they'll vote for McCain and the DNC fund-raising for their convention is off by $10 million. Obama just backed further away from McCain's challenge of a Lincoln-style debate, agreeing only to the standard three face-offs in the fall.

The McCain campaign has released a great video, mocking the divine Obama. 'The One' accurately sums up the media induced cult status this empty suit has achieved. Hilarious stuff.

GOOD NEWS:

Iraqi and US forces now control virtually all of Iraq and Baghdad's troops may be able to take on security for the whole country by 2009. Meanwhile, US combat deaths in July plunged to the lowest level in four years and Bush has cut tours for troops in Iraq down to one year.

This commercial being shown on Iraqi TV sums up better than I how much we've accomplished in Iraq. Nothing short of miraculous.

On the immigration front, it appears that the number of illegal immigrants in the US has dropped by app. 1 million. Banks in Mexico report that remittances from Mexicans in the US fell 2.2% in the first 6 months of 2008. And the US allowed in more than 2,300 Iraqi refugees last month, setting a record and putting the Bush administration on pace to surpass its goal of accepting 12,000 Iraqi by next September.

Other good news: The number of chronically homeless dropped nearly 30 percent from 2005 to 2007 and the number of Americans who consider themselves Democrats fell two percentage points to 39.2%

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and new bride, Jennifer Siebel

GOVERNMENT AT WORK:

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill that clears the way for gay and lesbian couples from other states to marry in Massachusetts. As gays celebrated, the CDC issued a new report. Apparently the US AIDS infection rate is 40% higher than earlier estimates. Oops. In some black communities, the HIV rate actually exceeds that of some African nations.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom took time out from the people's business to marry actress Jennifer Siebel. Then, it was back to work, as newly wed Newsom officially proposed a $1,000 fine for all those irresponsible residents who don't sort their trash into the environmentally correct piles.

Down south in LA, the city council approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants. Seattle, meanwhile, became the first city to discourage the use of paper and plastic shopping bags by requiring retailers to slap a .20 per bag charge on them. Continuing their valiant efforts to save the earth, Seattle's Mayor Greg Nickels is planning 'car-free' days throughout the city.

The House successfully kept the issue of offshore drilling from coming to a vote - concentrating instead on approving legislation that would empower the EPA to regulate the tobacco industry. Congress also tackled illegal immigration by announcing, to great fanfare, their latest solution: advising illegals to deport themselves rather than risk getting caught.

Last, but not least, the House issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery. Mea culpa. Next step: reparations. Sigh.

CULTURE:

The clash between gay rights and religious freedom acquired two new fronts recently, both involving Christians who say they were punished on their jobs for actions that reflect religious disapproval of homosexuality.

A government school in Texas will force students who don't follow the rules to wear prison-like jumpsuits. Parents complain the policy will make the kids feel like prisoners. Neal Boortz accurately points out, they are.

Workers at Tyson Food's poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day. Instead, they will take the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall.

A British website is recruiting kids as 'climate cops', encouraging them to keep records on their parents and neighbors for violations of 'energy crimes' against the planet.

More women than ever are donating their eggs. A sixty year-old Saudi man has graciously agreed to postpone his marriage to a ten year-old and, in Australia, surgery to 'rejuvenate' the vagina has been blacklisted as more women become injured by the dangerous procedure.

The first ever eyelash extensions for men will hit the shelves next month. They will be offered in both thick and fine options.

Mechanics are starting to see the damage ethanol is doing to small engines. "When you put that ethanol in here, it eats up the insides, or rusts them out."

This 'smart car' gets great mileage but no left turns.

The new 'smart car' gets 40 MPG but isn't heavy enough to set off the sensors that activate left-turn signal lights at intersections.

Memo to McDonalds: The Palestinian Authority is facing a severe financial crisis due to a lack of donor countries to fulfill their pledges to fund the Palestinians.

A record 9,000 Chinese couples plan to tie the knot to celebrate the opening of the Olympic games and to take advantage of the lucky date, 8/8/08. The World Bank has designated Linfen, China as the most polluted city in the world.

Academics have unearthed what they believe to be the world's oldest joke, a double entrendre about men's sexual desire. Saudi Arabia's religious police have announced a ban on selling cats and dogs as pets. [Guess you can still buy them for food] The reason? Men are using them as a means of making passes at women. Did you know there is no word for humor in Islam?

Last week, US Airways announced - no more free water on their flights. Delta, meanwhile, is doubling its charge for checking a second bag on all domestic flights.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK:

This week's award goes to all those ingenious suicide bombers who are starting to wear explosive 'underwear briefs' to evade body searches.

Before I sign off, I have an interesting tidbit. For all of you who have been impressed by T. Boone Pickens commercials touting wind power, you might want to read this article.

by Nancy Morgan

Nancy Morgan is a columnist and a news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina, where she writes "Culture Watch" weekly.

Article may be reprinted with attribution. Bio available on request.

War in Iraq: Heavy Foreign Investment a Sign of Victory

We Won!

America, its allies and the Iraqi people have won the war against terror in Iraq. How do we know? Simple. Just follow the money. European and Asian investment companies are beating a path to Iraq, money in hand. Iraqi Airlines is flying high thanks to a colossal $5.5 billion contract with Boeing and the United Arab Emirates just canceled billions of dollars of Iraqi debt as they moved to restore a diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

When foreign countries start investing billions of dollars in a country, its a safe bet they are aware of the risks involved. And, unlike the old news media and our elected Democrat officials, they see a relatively stable country ripe for investment.

The influx of foreign investment is largely due to the improved security in Iraq, which continues to improve even after the withdrawal of nearly 25% of U.S. combat brigades. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recently acknowledged cautiously that security 'is on its way to becoming sustainable.'

American and Iraqi forces have driven Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. Al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister said that "the government has defeated terrorism in the country." Pretty unequivocal. In fact, things are going so well in Iraq that the discussion has now shifted to a timetable for more troop withdrawals.

The American media is silent on all this good news, possibly out of embarrassment for being so incredibly wrong on pretty much every single issue having to do with Iraq. They would like to forget their near universal scorn for the now successful surge. The Democrats had declared defeat and there was no way they would accept anything more. The media trumpeted their views. Lo and behold, the surge worked. Horror of horrors, Bush was right.

When evidence of the progress on the ground was too overwhelming to ignore, new talking points emerged on the left. Democrats avowed that our military victory meant nothing. (Think about that a second) What really mattered, they intoned with one voice, was the political progress, as measured by Congressionally established benchmarks.

More horrors. It appears that a March 2008 report shows that the Iraqis have met 15 of the 18 benchmarks. The silence from the left, and the old media is now deafening.

Desperate to ignore any and all evidence of our astounding victory, the left, aided and abetted by the old media, continue to desperately search for any smidgen of bad news from Iraq. Not finding any, new talking points are starting to emerge. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the left has moved its focus off Iraq - to Afghanistan. The war has merely shifted, they say. We haven't won, they claim. For shame.

Even in Afghanistan, the tide is turning. But don't expect to get the straight poop from our elected officials or our very own media. They will continue their 45 year strategy of re-defining reality to their own liking, unaware that the world has changed. The media no longer has a lock on what news Americans hear and Democrats no longer have a lock on defining the issues.

The good news is, the old media is breathing its last biased breath. Even experts are astonished at the rapid rate of decline of this once robust profession. Prime indicators of this decline: New York Times stock is rated one step above junk bond status and the Los Angeles Times, for the first time in their history, had to lay off 250 jobs, 150 of them newsroom jobs. Yet, despite market realities, the old media continue to cling to the notion that the liberal point of view is the only valid one. Hasta la vista, baby.

The Democrats are also starting to see the writing on the wall, with congressional approval ratings in the single digits for the first time ever. Even Obama, the most liberal of all Senators, is having to do the flip-flop two step regarding Iraq, allowing that the surge has achieved some stability and that the next president would be foolish to fritter away those gains - much to the dismay of his followers, who have invested their whole lives in the notion that America is the bad guy and terrorists are merely freedom fighters.

The notion that America is a force for good in the world is not one liberals will ever embrace. Its called cognitive dissonance. And just as they cling to the notion that Alger Hiss was innocent and Che Guevera was a hero, they will continue to believe their own definition of reality, despite any and all evidence to the contrary. To admit they were wrong would invalidate them. And everything is about them.

The reality is that America has accomplished the impossible in Iraq, giving millions of Iraqi people a chance to obtain the very freedoms the old media and liberals so casually pervert. God Bless America.

by Nancy Morgan

Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina
Article may be reprinted, with attribution

Source: We Won!
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