Israeli report may suggest PM made costly mistakes

Similar to our own problems here in the US, the opposition in Israel seems to be using panels and commissions to attack the leader. If they want a different leader, they should beat him in an election right? Or, do the people support him and the opposition can't really find a way to beat him?

clipped from www.alertnet.org Lebanon war report could rock Israeli government An Israeli panel investigating the conduct of the 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon publishes a final report on Wednesday that could rock Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government Unlike the interim report, the final findings will focus on the last days of the war when Olmert ordered a costly ground assault even as a U.N.-brokered truce was in the works. Olmert has no obvious challenger and has referred to himself as politically indestructibl

Join the Northwest Indiana Blog Carnival

Yes, I submitted three posts, heck I run 16 sites, but I can assure you that all three submissions were NW Indiana related.

Now head over and submit, it takes like 2 minutes total.

clipped from nwiblogs.com NWI Blog Carnival Count: 6 Posts! The inaugural Northwest Indiana blog carnival is up to six posts now with some additions by prolific local blogger Steve Dalton, author of Daltons Briefs, Northwest Indiana Real Estate, and Porter County Politics, as well as several others. Don’t miss out! If you’re a Northwest Indiana Blogger, make sure to submit your favorite post to the Northwest Indiana blog carnival. This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 5:57 am and is filed under NWI blog carnival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. NWI Blogs

Prediction: 2008 Taliban will finally be defeated in Waziristan

Crazy idea? No I think our President wants this project done.

clipped from afp.google.com Pakistan missile strike kills 12 in new violence Twelve suspected militants were killed by a missile strike in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt, hours after gunmen held 300 children hostage at a nearby school, officials said Tuesday. The missile hit a house on Monday night in the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, where thousands of Pakistani troops are battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked fighters. Officials did not say if there was any connection between the missile strike and the school siege. Missile attacks have claimed the lives of several militants in Pakistan. A US Predator drone targeted Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in January 2006, killing several rebels but missing him. In December 2005, Egyptian Al-Qaeda explosives specialist Hamza Rabia was killed in a blast in North Waziristan. Residents said it was a missile strike but the military insisted he was killed by one of his own bombs.

Valparaiso native earns honor

Adrian Jones - the "boy wonder" as he's called by Mayor Jon Costas, was honored as one of consulting magazines 30 under 30. Well deserved great job Adrian.

clipped from www.consultingmag.com  30 under Thirty While most high school seniors were putting the finishing touches on their college entrance applications, Adrian Jones was preparing a plan to unseat a popular mayor in his hometown. At the age of 17, Jones was serving as a campaign director for his neighbor, Jon Costas, in a mayoral run in Valparaiso, Ind. “I love the ability to make a difference in the community, and that’s one reason I love local politics,” Jones says. “And I’m passionate about Valparaiso. This is where I grew up, and I look at it as giving back to my community.” He’s currently a member of the private equity practice, but he’s done “a little bit of everything at Bain,” and that includes another one of his passions—travel. Jones has traveled to 67 countries and is currently working in Stockholm, Sweden, “trying to build a bigger global perspective on how business operates,” Jones says. “I think that perspective will be very beneficial.”

Lots of new oil

Two stories jumped out at me today:

Mr. Bush your Legacy is Calling - which relates a major oil discovery off the coast of Angola, but OPEC caps which are arbitrarily keeping oil prices high

Pan American Energy find oil reserves in Argentina - which suggests as we've guessed that there is a ton of oil in South America too.

So, if there is a lot of oil still to be found, perhaps 100 years worth. And if there is a ton of innovation on new sources of energy for power, heat, and transportation. Why are we so concerned about oil?

I think we'll see oil dip back down to $75 this year and hold. Perhaps even lower as we move past 2010 and into the major innovations that American scientists will bring to bear.

What happens to the Middle East then? Will fanatics gain even more power as the Middle East loses their monopoly on oil profits? Will Latin America become the Middle East with upheaval and crisis?

Fleeing violence in Kenya

The author and her son were in Kenya for philanthropic trip and within days were taking part in the the craziness, and trying to get out of the country. Pay particular note, although time consuming, to the comments which are terriric. Also check out Dispatches from Kenya

Think Innovate, with a say commentary on the elections A Sad Day for my Kenya with the ringing quote:

"This election was going to be all about how transparency reigned through new
media. The Kenyan blogosphere was abuzz all night with up to the minute updates
and was very careful on not to report any rumors - thanks Ory of KenyaPundit and Chris of Kumukucha. The blogosphere picked up
when the old guard clamped down on regular media to declare the incumbent a
winner despite all accounts otherwise.Sadly, this is a post about none of the
above -- despite all the best intentions of the Kenyan people the old guard
Kibaki has blatantly rigged the elections in his favor. The Electoral commission
of Kenya went into lock down mode and clamped down all media before swearing in
the incumbent. Despite all indications that Amolo Raila Odinga was on path to
win the elections by a narrow but undisputable margin - Kibaki and his cronies
pulled ahead by 200,000 votes in the last 12hrs with some constituencies showing
a voter turnout of 140%.

clipped from blog.guykawasaki.com Guest Post: “We Got Out of Kenya, But What About the People Who Live There?” My son, Matt, age twelve, and I had arrived in Kenya two weeks before the election. In the end, we found a helicopter pilot willing to take the leap of faith that he could find our landing site (a soccer field at a remote village school), that it would be clear, large and safe enough for him to land, that he would be able to get enough fuel for the flight But that’s just our story. It matters less than the stories of countless people who now must reshape their lives to the devastating changes they face in Kenya today

Political posturing along Gaza and Egypt border

Sadly the Palestinian people are being used by terror leaders as pawns to re-gain control of this part of the world. Hamas must be sidelined, for good, and Abbas needs to have the chance to lead his people to statehood.

I'm sure that things are more than tense, one thought came to my mind: Is the scene at the Gaza-Egypt border going to be repeated at the US-Mexican border when we decide to build a wall there too?

clipped from www.alertnet.org Abbas to press Olmert to end Gaza blockade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to end a blockade on Gaza and accept his offer to control Gaza's border crossings, The two leaders are expected to meet on Sunday to discuss how to push forward with peace talks after Hamas breached Gaza's border with Egypt in defiance of a blockade that Israel says is meant to counter rocket fire from Gaza. Hamas has said it would prevent the move unless it had a say in future agreements on border crossings and U.S. and Israeli officials doubt Abbas's security forces are strong enough to take control of the crossings unless Hamas agrees.

Is Hamas gaining

... strength in Palestine? Obviously I know a lot less about this than those in Palestine, but my first guess is that Hamas is continuing to paint themselves as terror prone. This would seemingly put Abbas in a position to broker peace and border security and strengthen Fatah. Thoughts?

clipped from www.alertnet.org Hamas has gained from border breach, analysts say Hamas's breach of a Gaza-Egypt border wall that has enabled besieged Gazans to break through Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave has boosted the Islamist group's popularity, Palestinian analysts say.

The nation without a home

Palestinians want to be a country. They want Israel to recognize them, of course they'll need to stop with the "death to all Israeli's" thing. But there really is no country, or economy, or even security right now. The Palestinians are basically a giant refugee camp, with the hated Israelie's supplying most of the food and energy.

clipped from www.alertnet.org Egypt begins closing Gaza border, fueling tensions Egypt began closing its breached border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, using barbed wire and water cannons to keep Palestinians from leaving the Hamas-controlled territory in defiance of an Israeli blockade Pressed by the United States and Israel to take control of the situation, Egyptian forces in riot gear lined the border and began placing barbed wire and chain-link fences to prevent more Gazans from entering Egyptian soil. Israel, which occupied Gaza in 1967, pulled troops and settlers out in 2005, but it still controls the strip's northern and eastern borders, airspace and coastal waters. Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said Israel wanted to hand responsibility for electricity, water and medicine supplies over to others.

Senator Charbonneau supports taxpayers

Our newest Northwest Indiana senator on property taxes and income taxes.

clipped from www.insideindianabusiness.com Indianapolis, Ind. -- Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso) feels taxpayers should not lose state income tax deductions as a result of property tax billing delays. Therefore, he authored legislation that would allow taxpayers paying property taxes in 2008 to claim two deductions on their 2008 state income taxes. Senate Bill 267 passed 12-0 out of the committee on Appropriations today. “Taxpayers are not responsible for property tax billing delays and should not be penalized on their state income taxes because of those delays,” Charbonneau said. “The legislation I authored would allow individuals living in counties that are sending out late property tax bills the option to claim two $2,500 income tax deductions for property taxes paid in 2008.” SB 267, Charbonneau’s first bill presented to the Committee on Appropriations, will be heard by the full Senate.

Republican Whip on the Economic Package

Roy Blount suggests that perhaps the best the Republicans could do was to hold the Democrats from raising taxes. Can you believe that was even a possibility? I bet it was.

I'm not to happy to see a hand out of cash as the means of getting the economy rolling, the mortgage rates dropping down close to 5% will accomplish a ton more than any cash handout.

clipped from www.republicanwhip.house.gov Republican Whip Roy Blunt House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement today after Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) announced a breakthrough in negotiations over an economic growth package: “I want to applaud John’s efforts to ensure this package was not used as a vehicle to push through higher taxes or egregious new spending. The Democratic leadership also deserves credit for inviting us to the table and agreeing to take some of the massive spending increases, like food stamps and unemployment insurance, off the table. This spending might have achieved a short-term political end, but it would’ve done nothing to stimulate the economy either in the short or long term. “It was our goal to provide relief to working, over-taxed families and give businesses the confidence and incentives they need to grow. We were able to achieve both these goals by working together in good faith.

Kenyan Rivals Meet for the first time

Former UN High Priest, and probably oil for food conspirator, finally got the two rivals to meet in Kenya. I would think, and of course who am i right, that the entire election should be re-done.

Time to let the people of Kenya decide who will be president, not allow some power sharing tribal deal that disallows the people to vote. Remember democracy is hard, it's the impossible experiment, but it's worth the hard work.

clipped from abcnews.go.com Kenyan Rivals Meet on Election Dispute Kenya's president and its main opposition leader met Thursday for the first time since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential vote, but they emerged still clearly divided over the central question of who really won the election. Kibaki made a point of saying he had been "duly elected" as president an indicator that he did not consider his position as president negotiable. International allies, saying the vote tally was rigged, have been urging Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate a power-sharing agreement that might create a new position of prime minister for Odinga.

Calls for an "emergency" Fed rate cut

Email from Paul McCulley at bond giant Pimco in Newport Beach suggests the Fed should cut rates now!

clipped from lansner.freedomblogging.com “Sometimes when you are ill, you make an appointment with your doctor; other times, you go straight to the emergency room. Now is an other time.” AND “risk takers are ‘dis-engaging’ from the market, out of sheer fear. It may or may not be rational, but you can have irrational fear, just like you can have irrational exuberance. Animal spirits are what they are: animal spirits. “

Terror ridden Palestine caves in on itself

The problem with hate and terror is that eventually you lose track of who you were originally mad at, and start killing each other. Who gets killed the most in Iraq? Iraqi's.
Who gets killed the most in Palestine? Palestinians

clipped from www.alertnet.org Hamas says it has foiled Fatah plot to kill leader A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip on Saturday accused rival Fatah of plotting to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as he prayed and said the would-be suicide bomber had been arrested and had confessed A Fatah spokesman dismissed Sayam's allegations. "We deny any involvement or considering any bomb plot in mosques against any Palestinian figure, whether it be Haniyeh or anybody else,"

OBL son wants to be peace ambassador

Frankly, this seems a bit contrived. Dad starts a war, then son lives on millions and offers to negotiate?

Remids me of a church i went to once. Peace is mediated by those trusted and worthy of honor. Where did honor go?

clipped from abcnews.go.com Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket. The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.

Huckabee supporters attacking McCain?

This is beneath the evengelical pastor, and he should immediately decry these efforts that are obviously not fair. Attacking an American hero is beneath him.

clipped from patdollard.com From a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7962.html">Politico.com article by Jonathan Martin: COLUMBIA, S.C. —The national media thinks John McCain is under siege again, and his campaign is only too happy to help reporters file their stories. At a rally Thursday, outside McCain’s headquarters just down the street from the state capitol here, the candidate and a key local supporter, Sen. Lindsey Graham, are explaining that sorcerers of the dark political arts are at work. A nasty flier touching on McCain’s POW experience has surfaced and a round of anti-McCain automated phone calls has been launched by a pro-Huckabee third-party group — but those are the same calls that were placed in every other early primary state. Other than that, there’s been little in the way of dirty tricks.

Huckabee playing God card isn't good

I am an evangelical, and even though I am frustrated that agnostics and atheists have changed our constitution by way of ridiculous ruling by liberal judges, I have no interest in changing the constitution. We need to follow the constitution we have, that's why our founding fathers made ammendments so difficult.

Now its time to us to figure out how to get rid of bad judges, not change the constitution that was right all along.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com The United States Constitution never uses the word "God" or makes mention of any religion, drawing its sole authority from "We the People." However, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thinks it's time to put an end to that. "I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Israel flexes it's defense muscles

Although they may be willing to extend a peace to defeated Palestinian terrorists, on the condition that they start a country and stop complaining, Israel is not going to stand around and wait for Iran to nuke them

clipped from abcnews.go.com Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a powerful parliamentary panel on Monday that Israel rejects "no options" to block Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, a meeting participant said. The statement was the Israeli leader's clearest indication yet that he is willing to use military force against Iran

Senator Pete Domenici has just endorsed John McCain

On the day of the Michigan primary John McCain continues to roll in the endorsements, from leaders and media.

clipped from politicomafioso.blogspot.com ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici has endorsed the candidacy of John McCain for the Republican nomination for president. Senators Domenici and McCain spoke by phone today, and Sen. Domenici issued the following statement: "Today I am very pleased to endorse my colleague, Sen. John McCain, for the Republican nomination for president.