We Warned India in October

Sadly, it seems as if the Indian authorities did not take the threats seriously... I guess too many people believe that the War on Terror is just a bumpersticker...

U.S. intelligence agencies warned their Indian counterparts in mid-October of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centers in Mumbai," a U.S. intelligence official tells ABCNews.com. Intelligence agencies warned Indian counterparts of potential attacks in Mumbai.

A second government source says specific locations, including the Taj hotel, were listed in the U.S. warning. One month later, Nov. 18, Indian intelligence also intercepted a satellite phone call to a number in Pakistan known to be used by a leader of the terror group, Lashkar e Taiba, believed responsible for the weekend attack, Indian intelligence officials say. The Indian intercept also revealed a possible sea-borne attack, the officials say.

The Great Coverup - Victory in Iraq

So, while the media and Democrats and Liberals bloviate over how dreadful a decision it was to go into Iraq and liberate 25 Million people from the regime of Saddam Hussein, they have had a startling lack of coverage of the success of late...

While U.S. combat casualties in Iraq were at an all-time low in November 2008 – five reported combat deaths -- coverage of the war was sparse in The New York Times and The Washington Post compared with previous election cycles, an analysis of the Nexis news database shows.

In The New York Times, four front-page stories mentioned Iraq in the headline in November 2008 compared with 13 in November 2006, the last time a national election was held -- a drop of 70 percent. Most of those front-page stories in The New York Times concerned a security pact between U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Similarly, The Washington Post ran just four front-page stories with Iraq in headline in November 2008 compared with 15 in November 2006 -- a drop of 73 percent. One of last month’s reports focused on arms shipments from Bulgaria to Kurdish officials, while the other stories concerned the new security accord approved by the Iraqi Parliament.

Hmmm... So the main stories are about diplomacy... Not war... And five combat deaths? Quite the non-story... THANK YOU to our troops.

This is a derelection of duty. But it is not surprising.

Freedom of Choice Act: UPDATE

(CNSNews.com) - Bishop Paul Loverde of the Roman Catholic diocese of Arlington, Va., said last week that if the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) should become law and a Catholic hospital in his diocese is forced to provide abortions, he would refuse to let the hospital comply, but he would also not close the institution.

Though there are no Catholic hospitals in his diocese, the bishop nevertheless was defiant: “I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to close the hospital, you’re going to arrest me, go right ahead. You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’ ”

Wow... Since FOCA looks like it is going to be passed under President-elect Zero, this is a very intriguing situation... Good for Bishop Loverde!

Terror In India

Thanksgiving is over and while we were enjoying our turkey, terrorists reminded the World that even Barack Obama's election will not have them dropping their weapons (as some of his most ardent supports believed...)

Mumbai, India was the scene of a multi-day siege. The likes of which we never could have imagined. The attacks and their success were highly disconcerting. Indian police and special forces were not prepared. Police in Mumbai do not carry guns... I believe this attack was planned in Pakistan by groups close to Al Qaeda and Kashimirist separatists. It would not surprise me if the Pakistani government was also involved. This attack on a Democratic government that is soft on anti-terror, is a clear message that the hard policies we presently have on terror are the way to go. I can only hope that Mr. Change will not make us less safe.

All in all, this will not help relations on the Subcontinent.

This article from today's Wall Street journal is an excellent synopsis of what is a very intricate attack and an intriguing story.

Happy Thanksgiving... To Remember Why We Celebrate...

As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish
constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

NFL Picks for Turkey Week

So, yeah, here are my picks for the three Turkey Day games... None are real good... In addition, I'll pick games for the local NY teams...

Tennessee -10.5 DETROIT
TEN 20 Det 7

DALLAS -13 Seattle
DAL 24 Sea 10

PHILADELPHIA -3 Arizona
ARZ 31 Phi 17

NY Giants -3.5 WASHINGTON
Nyg 20 WSH 17

NY JETS -8 Denver
Nyj 24 DEN 17

Picks by Spread: Tennessee, Dallas, Arizona, Washington and Denver

Change You Can Believe In?

Here is yet another commentary on the Third Clinton Admin...oops... I meant the Obama Administration... From Rich Lowry and National Review...

Barack Obama has succeeded where Hillary Clinton failed. She hoped to win a third Clinton term, but it is her vanquisher who is reconstituting the Clinton Administration.

Very true. This begs the question of whether some kind of back room deal was made between the Clintons and Obamas.

Few would have guessed back when Obama rose from the snows of Iowa that highly
experienced economic technicians would represent “change we can believe in.”
Thankfully, Obama’s airy rhetoric about a new kind of politics was more a pitch
for impressionable new voters than a description of his governing style.

True... Impressionable voters (see, youth vote and folks who like free stuff...) were responsible for his victory. While all of a sudden it seems, the 'change' promised is turning out to be a lot like what Hillary's presidency would have brought...

Read it all...

NY Post Editorial

Today's lead editorial in the NY Post lambastes the management at Citi for running the business into the ground...

Already gone, though not soon enough, is former Director Robert Rubin - the one board member who seems to have been wide awake the whole time. Rubin, the Clinton administration treasury secretary who successfully engineered the bank
deregulation that made so much of the current mess possible, was appointed to the Citi board in 1999. Then, it seems, things began to happen. That is,
Rubin apparently undertook to test the limits of his new banking rules.

In a 4,076-word autopsy of Citigroup's "rush to risk," The New York Times on Sunday labeled Rubin "an architect of the bank's strategy." It describes him as having "pushed to bulk up the bank's high-growth fixed-income trading," including risky debt instruments. Risky is hardly the word for it - though in mid-2007, according to the newspaper, Citi brass claimed that the likelihood of subprime mortgages actually defaulting "was so tiny that they [were] excluded from their risk analysis."

Robert Rubin is also a main economic advisor to President-Elect Zero. So, clearly, he has his hands in too many cookie jars...

Read the entire piece...

The Great Example...

I guess President-Elect Zero wants to really further anger those who decry him as a 'phony' Christian...

Obama Skips Church, Heads to Gym...

Classy.

Civic Literacy Test

Go ahead, take it... Give it a try... Our Congress critters score in the 40% range...

Comment and post your score...

Civic Literacy Test

Citi Needs A Bailout? Ugh...

Well, we keep printing money for these global conglomerates and they keep taking it... Does it do ANY good? Do they go about changing their business practices that got them into this mess? Doesn't really seem like it...

Ahhhh... I'll bet Citi wishes they did not come to a 20 year naming rights deal with the Mets for Citi Field now, eh

Enjoy The Weekend!

Have a great weekend folks... Here is a pic from Vacation 2008... Ahh... Warm weather, bright sun and friendly faces!

Enjoy!

Here We Go... Through The Looking Glass...

Basking in the warm, wonderful, forgiving glow of newly minted President-Elect Zero, it appears that a Long Island school is already giving The One the honor bestowed on great leaders of our country...

From Channel3000.com in Madison, WI...

NEW YORK -- It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama.

The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday -- effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.

Hope! Change!

Hat Tip: Molly J.

Bloomies Property Tax Rebate Issue

Mayor Mike Bloomberg (Billionaire-NY) is now saying that due to the City's current awful fiscal state, that the mandated $400 property tax rebate owed homeowners will not happen in 2009. Why? There is just no money.

Mayor Bloomberg suggested yesterday that he won't send out the annual $400 property-tax rebate to small homeowners - even if legally forced to do so by the City Council. "We have no money," said the mayor. "I think that's what you have to understand. This is not a legal issue; this is a fiscal issue."

I get on Mayor Bloomberg a lot but in this case he is right. If we have no money for this giveback, we can't give it back... Unless the City decides further cuts in services are required. Now, I am not for raising taxes at all, but I do think the City can save some $ by reducing the overwhelming numbers of municipal employees, most of whom are just living off the government dime and not doing much of anything (trust me, I know, I've worked with them...)

So I support the Mayor on this. A one-year moratorium on this rebate.

Market Since the Obama Election...

This is all you need to know about investor confidence in President-Elect Zero...

Market Close, November 3, 2008: 9,625

Market Close, November 20, 2008: 7,552

That is a drop of 2,073 or 22%...

THIS Is Contested?

It's pretty clear who this person voted for? So why is Al Franken contesting it? Why, he's trying to steal an election!

Fun With the MTA!

So, the NYC MTA has a huge gap to fill... Well let's raise fares... OK, fine... While we are at it, let's cut service too!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Here are some exciting highlights...

Up to a 23 percent increase in bus. subway, LIRR and Metro-North fares...

Scrapping bus and subway lines.

Reducing service on all other lines and LIRR and Metro-North.

Increase in Express Bus fares from $5 to $7.50...

This 'doomsday' budget is bad but most likely will only get worse... BTW, if I continue commuting as is, it would cost $50 per week... For this level of service, NYC can go to hell...

More Good News!

This morning's good news comes from the International Herald Tribune...

Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts analyzing the latest report from global atomic inspectors.

Incredible. As we sit here and bask in the warm, radiating, satisfying glow of The Zero, the homicidal maniacs running Iran are still busy working hard at their 'peaceful' nuclear energy program...

Well our allies in Israel are not sitting idly by...

"We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us" in order to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, IAF commander Maj. -Gen. Ido Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Tuesday.

Good... I get the feeling that they have until January 20, 2009 to do it with our full support. I do not expect President Zero to 'approve' of a pre-emptive Israeli strike on Iran... You know, because we REALLY want the World to like us...

Return of the Barbary Pirates?

There has been a recent rash of pirate takeovers of ships, including a Saudi Oil Tanker... These pirates are sailing in inadequate ships and are coming on board and taking over large vessels... And yet, nothing happens to them...

My remedy... Blow them away...

Zawahri Called Obama What???

So, Al Qaeda's number 2 (or 1 if you believe Osama is dead...) has chimed in with his words to President-Elect Zero... Saying that Americans electing him show that we are defeated in Iraq (good to know that Al-Q believe electing the Zero was equivalent to our admission defeat, like we all said...)

And then, there is this:

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, using a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.

In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect — along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice — "house negroes."

Wow... 'House negroes"... Obama, welcome to the real world. Do you think these monsters want to sit down and chat?