The Iranian Regime Takes Rafsanjani To Task

Yesterday, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gave a sermon that got the regime in a tizzy. The full text of that speech is here, in which he slammed China for killing Uighurs (and which those present began chanting Death to China), but which devoted significant time to attacking Supreme Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad for making a mockery of the democratic process such as it exists in Iran.

He said:

As you are aware, according to the constitution, everything in the country is determined by people's vote. People elect the members of the Assembly of Expert and then they elect leader, that is, leader is [indirectly] elected by people's vote. Presidents, MPs, members of the councils are elected by direct votes of people. Other officials are also appointed [indirectly] through people's vote. Everything depends on people. This is the religious system. The title of Islamic Republic is not used as a formality. It includes both the republican and Islamic nature.

The title of Islamic Republic is not just a formality. This is a reality passed on to us on the basis of Koran, as well as the religious sayings of the [Shiite] Imams and prophet. We believe in them. We should have them at the same time. Rest assured if one of those two aspects are damaged we will loose our revolution. If it looses its Islamic aspect, we will go astray. If it looses its republican aspect, it [The Islamic Republic] will not be realized. Based on the reasons that I have offered, without people and their vote there would be no Islamic system...

This was our path. We should reach the destination. We should strengthen it day by day. If the problems after the [presidential] election had not emerged, we would have had taken the best largest step towards realizing the Islamic [aspect of the establishment] at the 30th anniversary of the revolution. I am not going to say that we have not taken the step. I want to explain why this happened.

What I understand is that towards the end of the election campaign we were taken over by doubt. In other words, people started to have doubts and the seeds of doubt were sown, for whatever reason. Whether it was unfavourable publicity or the Voice and Vision's inappropriate actions or other things, seeds of doubt were planted in the minds of the people. We consider doubt as the worst disaster.

Doubt came down on our nation like the plague. Of course, there are two separate currents. There is a group of people who have no doubts, they...and mind their own business. But there is also another group, whose numbers are not few and include a great section of our erudite and knowledgeable people, who say: " We doubt". We should take measures to remove this doubt. This period, after the results of the elections , is a bitter era. I do not believe anyone from any faction wanted this to happen. We have all lost in this event. We have all lost and now ask ourselves: why did it happen. We need unity today, more than ever.

Our country should be united against all the dangers that threaten us. They have now upped their ransom demands and are coming forward to take away our achievements in the fields of hi-tech and particularly nuclear technology. Of course, God will not give them the opportunity to do so, but they are greedy. My brothers and sisters, first of all, you all know me, I have never wanted to abuse this platform in favour of a particular faction and my remarks have always concerned issues beyond factionalism. I am talking in the same manner today. I am not interested in any factions. In my view, we should all think and find a way that will unite us to take our country forward and save ourselves from these dangerous and bad effects, and the emerging grudges. We should disappoint our enemies so that they would not covet our country. What should we do? I have a few suggestions...

Note that while he continues attacking Ahmadinejad and Khamenei for all but stealing the election and sowing the seeds of doubt in the legitimacy of the regime through their heavy handed actions to declare a winner without a full recount, he too supports Iran's long term goals of nuclear technologies and is just as wary of the West and the US as the current regime.

Still, it was the comments about the regime that got Rafsanjani in hot water. One of the official mouthpieces for the government slammed Rafsanjani for questioning the election outcomes. Moreover, at least one member of the Guardian Council, which rubber stamped the election, invokes the name of Allah to support their results:

But a prominent cleric who is a member of the electoral watchdog, the Guardians Council, which upheld the poll result, rebuked Rafsanjani for his focus on popular legitimacy.

"The legitimacy of the government is given by God," the ISNA news agency quoted Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi as saying.

"Acceptance by the people doesn't bring legitimacy to (an Islamic) government. Mr Hashemi Rafsanjani ignored this important Islamic point and talked in both parts of his sermon yesterday as if governments are assigned only by the people."

These comments give lie to the fact that the people have ever had a say in who governs. It was always concentrated in the hands of the Guardian Council.

It suggests that Rafsanjani is part of a conspiracy against the regime. That's not good news for the regime, but it puts Rafsanjani on the same side as the opposition. It means Rafsanjani is the highest ranking cleric to side with the opposition.

As for the chants of Death to Russia and Death to China, those stem from the fact that both of those countries were quick to recognize Ahmadinejad as winner, though it doesn't mean that the US is on the back burner.

The Myth of Cheaper Government Health Care

Forget for a moment about the quality of such care. Instead, let's focus on the actual cost of government health care versus that of private health care.

We've got 40 years of data to pore over, and the results aren't pretty. In fact, it's devastating. Government health care costs have risen far faster and higher than private care, and the difference in care is in the hundreds of billions. Had Medicare and Medicaid simply risen at the same rate as private health care, taxpayers would have saved nearly $200 billion.

My new study, published by the Pacific Research Institute, shows that -- across four decades -- the costs of government-run health care have risen far more than the costs of private care.

My study compares the cost increases of Medicare and Medicaid with those of all other health care in the United States. The key finding: Since 1970, Medicare and Medicaid's costs have risen one-third more, per patient, than the combined costs of all other health care in America -- the vast majority of which is purchased privately.

Since 1970, Medicare and Medicaid's combined per-patient costs have risen from $344 to $8,955, while the combined per-patient costs of all other US health care have risen from $364 to $7,119.

Medicare and Medicaid used to cost $20 less per patient than other care. Now they cost $1,836 more. (And that's even without the Medicare prescription-drug benefit.)

In fact, if the costs of Medicare and Medicaid had risen only as much as the costs of all other health care in America, then, instead of costing a combined $807 billion last year, they would've cost a combined $606 billion. That savings of $201 billion would have amounted to more than $1,750 per American household last year alone.

The CBO came out this past week with a similar finding; that the Democrats' plans for health care would never see any cost savings and would end up costing far more than the nation can afford.

It's no wonder that President Obama is running around in perpetual campaign mode to try and convince Democrats that his health care plans aren't going to bankrupt the nation and will do the impossible - create a government program that saves money over the private sector.

The New York Times is doing its part to cover for the Administration. After the CBO came out with that devastating news about the Democrats' health care plan, they buried those details, while the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post highlighted the nonpartisan report.

It's disingenuous for media outlets to downplay the CBO report, particularly when the news undermines every argument being made by the Administration in support of this health care monstrosity. If you were attempting to be objective about the health care proposal, you couldn't run a report without citing the CBO objections.

But, if you're in the game of trying to save the Administration's bacon, you will do anything and everything to obscure the fact that the numbers simply don't work. They never did.

NYC City Council Slush Fund Scandal Grows

Gather around folks and watch politicians scramble to save their necks, because this scandal is a doozy.

Authorities are poring over the spending of about a dozen city and state legislators to see if they followed the same shady path of former City Councilman Miguel Martinez, who has admitted stealing from taxpayers, sources said yesterday.

One veteran government staffer said some people are already steering clear of the suspect legislators, fearing that anything they say could wind up in the hands of swarming prosecutors.

"I've been told, 'Be careful who you talk to,' " confided the staffer.

He obtained a list of about a dozen elected officials that authorities are "looking at," he said.

Even some of those outside the government have become fretful about interacting with certain legislators.

Martinez's admission this week that he's a crook -- and has been one since taking office in 2002, stealing $106,000 -- was the unavoidable topic No. 1 at the annual council outing yesterday at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn.

"We were all saying the same thing. We all thought Martinez was a good guy," said one council member. "It turns out he's a thief, a common thief. We're all dumbfounded, frustrated and upset."

The council member said he found it ironic that during budget negotiations, Martinez consistently pressed to fund Legal Aid and legal services.

The investigation initiated with an examination of a group funded by City Councilman Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn) and taxpayer money that two of his aides steered toward a charity, which they used to misappropriate $145,000 in government funds.

The problem goes back to the porkbarrel projects and groups that obtain funds annually from the City and State as member items. It is far too easy for politicians to influence the outcomes of who receives those payments and the connections between the politicians and some of these nonprofit groups is too close for comfort.

In fact, one has to wonder whether some of these groups were created to benefit the politicians rather than the general public particularly since Albany legislators are considered part timers. That means that they get to hold positions outside their legislative duties.

Walter Cronkite Passes Away At 92

Walter Cronkite passed away at the age of 92 yesterday. He had been reported to be in ill health for some time. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and colleagues at CBS, where he became a television icon leading the CBS Evening News for decades until his unceremonious ouster in favor of Dan Rather.

Cronkite was a hugely influential news reader, and was considered the most trustworthy voice. Love him or hate him, his voice was just right for reading the news nightly. At a time when your news choices were newspapers or the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC), Cronkite ruled the day.

Cronkite's best moments came at times of national tragedy and national triumph. That includes the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon (the 40th anniversary of which is just two days from now).





His statements on Vietnam will be endlessly critiqued as to whether he lost Vietnam for the US as he led more people to conclude that the US could not win.

But the reason that so many people think that is the case is precisely why he was such an imposing and towering figure in journalism; he was seen as the trustworthy figure and took his opinions and views as informed and reliable.

That kind of impact by a news reader will never be seen again.

Your Tax Dollars At Work; NY Edition

State workers in Albany New York decided that they knew how best to spend their working hours. They built themselves a man-cave at Empire State Plaza, from which they slept on the job when they weren't busy dealing drugs:

A state janitor and his boss built a secret “man cave” at a downtown garage near the Empire State Plaza that they used to sell drugs, smoke pot and sleep during work hours, according to the state Inspector General.

Gary Pivoda, a cleaner, and Louis Marciano, an Office of General Services supervisor in charge of the East Garage cleaning crew, gave co-workers special access to their hidden party lounge outfitted with sofas, a TV and a scale for weighing marijuana.

Investigators said Pivoda and Marciano routinely arrived at work at 4 p.m., got high, then slept while other janitors cleaned Pivoda’s section of the East Garage at Madison Avenue and Eagle Street.

The Inspector General alleges that Pivoda made evening drug deliveries in his OGS truck to electricians, plumbers and other state employees.

Two garage co-workers were arrested in December for smoking pot at work. State Police dismantled the “man cave” in a late-night raid Tuesday, the IG’s office said in a statement announcing the investigation.

Both are suspended without pay from the Office of General Services.

Meanwhile, State Senator Pedro Espada had a heaping portion of pork sent his way, courtesy of his orchestrations over the past month and deposing Malcolm Smith as majority leader. His comrade in the machinations in the Senate clown circus, Hiram Monserrate, has had his chairmanship and stipend of $12,500 restored. It had been stripped following assault charges filed against him.

Also, New York City Councilman Miguel Martinez admits to stealing thousands of dollars from City taxpayers.

City Councilman Miguel Martinez Thursday admitted he'd stolen thousands of taxpayer dollars through a series of scams that began in his first days in office.

Martinez pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and revealed he'd pilfered $106,000 in Council funds through various schemes from October 2002 through spring 2008.

The Daily News first reported Martinez's self-dealing in April 2008 - triggering a city Department of Investigation probe, which led to the criminal charges.

Martinez is resigning, but this scandal is far from over. He's not alone. The slush fund scandal looks to take down his possible successor and a host of others.

Isn't politics grand?

Iranian Regime Tear Gasses Opposition At Prayer

I've been saying that the fight for control of Iran wasn't over by a long shot. There would be lulls in the conflict between the regime and the opposition, but things have once again heated up following Friday prayers. Today's events show that the regime, led by the illegitimate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continue their assault on the intelligence of all Iranians and once again directly attacked the opposition as they met for Friday prayers.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters packed Iran's main Islamic prayer service Friday, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top clerical supporter, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, delivered a sermon sharply criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election protests.

Outside Tehran University, where the prayers were held, pro-government Basiji militiamen in front of a line of riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of opposition protesters who chanted "death to the dictator" and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign. Some protesters kicked away the tear gas canisters as others scattered and regrouped.

The opposition aimed to turn the Friday prayers into a show of their continued strength despite heavy government suppression since the disputed June 12 presidential election. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, sat in the front row of worshippers, attending for the first time since the turmoil began. Many of the tens of thousands at the prayers wore headbands or wristbands in his campaign color green, or had green prayer rugs.

Rafsanjani is no friend of the West, but even he sees that the regime has gone too far. Rafsanjani had been on the sidelines until now, but taking this stance puts him up against Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.

The protesters continue to stand up against Ahmadinejad at great personal risk to their lives. Women, who make up a significant portion of the protesters are at risk of being raped by the Basiji who are at the forefront of Ahmadinejad's crackdown. Killing protesters turn them into martyrs. Rape then is a favored tactic since Iranian society traditionally shuns such victims:

Taraneh's is not the first allegation of brutal raping of a post-election protester -- according to the UK Guardian, an 18 year old boy in Shiraz was repeatedly gang raped by prison officials while in detention after being arrested for participating in the protests on June 15. That boy's father won't let him back in the family home.

Despite its agitations for reform, Iranian society remains traditional, according to Iranian-British blogger Potkin Azarmehr, and it's the stigma of rape that is being used as a weapon against the protesters. "By killing protesters, the government makes martyrs of them, but by raping them and allowing them to live, it makes them shunned in society," Azarmehr said.

Not that the stigma of rape is exclusive to Iran and other more traditional societies. A friend of Azarmehr's who is presently in Iran told him that he's "sick of hearing that people like Taraneh are better off dead" from friends abroad, just because they "can't handle the fact that she's been raped."

Via Hot Air comes the following two clips showing the protests and the crackdown:





There are also photos purportedly of the ongoing demonstrations and crackdown, including protesters dealing with tear gas fired by police and the Basiji.

Campaigner In Chief Comes To New Jersey To Talk Health Care

President Obama was in New Jersey yesterday trying to prop up the dead wood formerly known as Jon Corzine. Corzine was a prop for Obama, and the appearance had nothing to do with bolstering Corzine or his fading chances, but rather was a campaign stop to try and get people to buy into his baffling BS that the health care proposals would save money in the long run, which is contradicted by the CBO's own analysis, showing that all of the plans will end up hitting taxpayers up for even more money that they don't have.

It's smoke and mirrors, and it's what Obama does best. He isn't commanding or leading. He's campaigning. He's making promises he knows he can't keep. It's all he knows how to do since he has never had executive level experience at any point in his life. So, he's spending his time politicking and trying to convince people that we must take immediate action on a problem that isn't the problem that Obama and his fellow Democrats make it out to be.

By that, I mean the Democrats conflate access to health care with the cost of that care. Everyone in the US has access to health care. People may balk at the cost of that care, but the President's plans do not reduce the costs. Instead, they spread those costs out across all taxpayers, meaning that taxpayers will still higher bills at the end of the day - higher tax bills, and higher health care bills because cost containment isn't going to happen. If cost containment was a possibility, Massachusetts and other states that have imposed their own brand of universal health care wouldn't be suffering from deficits and need to severely scale back their plans because of budgetary constraints.

Instead of letting the states figure out how to provide health care to their residents as they see fit, the President is hoping for a one-size fits all approach that makes no fiscal sense, which will cost trillions more than the already oversized plan suggests, and will not achieve the goal of providing quality health care to all Americans. If the government can't provide quality health care to Native Americans or veterans, why should anyone believe that the Administration will provide quality health care to all Americans?

UPDATE:
Obama and Corzine hoped to raise more than $1 million for Corzine's reelection efforts. I'm supposed to feel sorry that Corzine lost quite a bit of his fortune due to the ill-winds of Wall Street? Hardly. He's trying to hit up millionaires to make up his personal shortfall, even as he's busy soaking the same group with surtaxes and Obama is planning on hitting them up for covering the health care makeover fiasco. The cognitive dissonance among these prospective donors is astounding.

Terrorists Strike In Jakarta, Killing Eight

Multiple bombs were detonated, killing at least eight people at a Jakarta Marriott and a Ritz Carlton. At least 53 people were injured. Both were known to have high security, and despite that, the terrorists murdered eight people. Indeed, the Marriott was the scene of a deadly bombing in 2003, which killed 12 and wounded 150.

Suicide bombers set off explosions at two hotels here Friday morning that killed eight people and wounded 53, police said, in Indonesia's worst terrorist attack in four years.

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the bodies of two suicide bombers were found near the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton in the city's central business district. At least one of the eight killed was a foreigner, but he said four bodies have yet to be identified. Eighteen of the people injured by were foreigners, he said.

A security sweep of the Marriott after the blast revealed another device in a room, which was defused. That suggests that the bombers were able to gain access to the hotel as guests.

The suicide bombers used explosive they were keeping in a room at the Marriott, Mr. Danuri said. The first bomb was detonated at the Marriott at 7:47 a.m. local time at the lounge in the lobby, near a meeting of foreign business people. That explosion killed five. The second bomb was detonated at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel 10 minutes later, on a second floor restaurant, killing two. One person later died in a hospital. The streets outside the two hotels, which sit adjacent to each other in a new business district in central part of the capital city, were covered in shattered glass and debris.

The dead included Timothy Mackay, chief executive of PT Holcim Indonesia, the local unit of Swiss cement maker Holcim Ltd., a spokesman for the company said.

Mr. Mackey was among several victims attending an Indonesian business forum held at the J.W. Marriott Friday morning. The meeting, organized by consulting firm CastleAsia, was part of a series of events sponsored by the firm that gathers prominent business executives and political leaders to discuss Indonesian affairs.

So, who was behind the attacks? My best guess would be none other than Jemaah Islamiyah, which has ties to al Qaeda. Others suspect that it might be a splinter group that is dissatisfied with the leadership. The hotels are seen as symbols of the West, particularly the United States. The Marriott had been used by the US embassy for various events over the years, so the attacks are show an intent to attack a symbol of the United States.

Moreover, it shows the terrorists' willingness to repeatedly attack high value targets.

It will have an effect on Indonesia's economic situation, as the tourism industry is expecting to take a serious hit for the next several months until the fears of terrorism recede into dim memories.

UPDATE:
CCTV at the Marriott hotel captured the blast:


Meanwhile, Manchester United, which had been scheduled to compete in a soccer competition in Indonesia and which was planning on staying at the Marriott, has withdrawn from the competition.

UPDATE:
Two hours after the initial blasts, a car bomb went off in Jakarta, killing another two people.

World Thug Watch

Charles Taylor is currently on trial for war crimes at The Hague. He admits that his thugs hoisted the skulls of rival groups on stakes, but sees nothing wrong with that. He denies his troops disemboweled rival fighters. It's all part of the testimony into his actions during the war in Sierra Leone.

The invasion of Liberia and his ascent to power was a prelude to Taylor's involvement in the brutal 1991-2002 civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone, for which he is accused of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Taylor is not on trial for offenses in Liberia, but his testimony appeared aimed at allegations at the heart of the prosecution case that rebels backed by Taylor in Sierra Leone used terror tactics, including systematic amputations to intimidate the population.

Taylor has dismissed those allegations as lies and rumors.

Elsewhere, Mirhussein Mousavi says that deaths and injuries to protesters against the Ahmadinejad regime will not go in vain.

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed not to let the blood of protesters killed in postelection crackdown go in vain as he met with the family of a young man shot to death during the turmoil, reformist Web site reported Wednesday.

Mousavi, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that he will attend Tehran’s main Friday prayer services this week for the first time, a key symbolic assertion of the opposition’s presence after the crackdown.

The sermon Friday is due to be delivered by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric in Iran’s leadership who has not performed the sermon since the turmoil erupted following the disputed June 12 presidential election. Rafsanjani is a top rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is believed to be a strong behind-the-scenes backer of Mousavi.

"I’ll join you (for prayers) on Friday July 17," Mousavi said, according to his Web site ghalamnews.ir.

The main Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University is a significant political platform that hard-line clerics have used in recent weeks to demand a halt to postelection protests and spread the message that that turmoil was fueled by foreign enemies. Rafsanjani’s sermon could give the first opposition voice in the sermon.

The pro-Mousavi Web site mowjcamp.com said reformist leaders will hold street protests after attending the Friday prayers.

The Ahmadinejad regime isn't backing down and has continued to thwart protesters at every turn and is as bellicose as ever, even as the head of their nuclear program resigned over the regime's actions.

North Korea continues to simmer like ripe kimchi, and the UN has added still more companies and entities to its sanctions blacklist:

[N]ations are now banned from doing business with five firms involved in North Korea's nuclear programme, and five individuals are to have their financial assets frozen and face a travel ban.

They include:

* three North Korean trading corporations - Namchongang, Korea Hykosin and Korea Tangun, as well as North Korea's bureau of atomic energy
* an Iranian-based company, Hong Kong Electronics, is also sanctioned, accused of moving millions of dollars used for North Korea's nuclear programme
* Yun Ho-jin, Ri Je-son, Hwang Sok-hwa, Ri Hong-sop and Han Yu-ro now face sanctions because of their involvement in the development of North Korea's banned activities
* countries cannot sell North Korea certain types of graphite or para-aramid fiber because they could be used to make parts for ballistic missiles

NASA Releasing Restored Apollo 11 Video Footage

NASA has restored footage of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, and it reveals details lacking in the footage previously released. It uses the latest computer processing to enhance detail in the film, bringing out detail from shaded areas.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Shuttle Endeavor Hit By Falling Insulation During Launch

NASA announced that debris from the external tank may have caused some damage to the shuttle Endeavor following its launch from Kennedy Space Center yesterday.

Space shuttle Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station Thursday as engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft.

Mission Control told the astronauts late Wednesday that the damage looked less extensive at first glance than what occurred on the last shuttle flight, but it will take days to sort through available data to reach a conclusion.

The astronauts planned a Thursday afternoon inspection of their ship's thermal shielding, using a 100-foot (30-meter) laser-tipped boom. The procedure has been standard since shuttle flights resumed after the Columbia accident.

Endeavour's liftoff early Wednesday evening was the sixth try and came more than a month late. It occurred on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the launch of man's first moon landing mission.

Here's the NASA feed from the launch. The damage appears to have been caused nearly 2 minutes into the flight near the time that the solid rocket boosters separated from the external tank.

There's no word on the extent of the damage, but NASA doesn't appear to be particularly concerned at the moment and believes that the damage to the heat tiles on the belly of the shuttle are not deep enough to be a concern. A more detailed examination of the shuttle will occur when it reaches the International Space Station where it will get a one-over to discern whether the shuttle was damaged to the point of being incapable of safely returning to Earth.

Hasbrouck Heights Changes Rules After Cop Injured at Sonic

Well, more details have emerged about the incident at the newly opened Sonic in Hasbrouck Heights New Jersey where a cop was seriously injured after being dragged into oncoming traffic by an unruly driver.

Daniel Yi took off just as Officer Corey Lange reached inside the vehicle for his driver's license, said Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. A sedan collided with Yi's SUV moments later, pinning Lange between the two vehicles.

Lange broke his leg and ankle in the ordeal Tuesday night. Yi, of Hackensack, remained in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail Wednesday night.

The incident has prompted a crackdown on drivers who queue along Route 17 for a spot at the popular burger joint. Police will now fine drivers $100 for stopping on the three-lane highway.

"If you stay in the queue lane, you will be ticketed," Molinelli said Wednesday. "People are waiting along Route 17, which is not good."

Borough officials have also begun looking at better ways to deal with the congestion, which has been handled by off-duty officers hired by Sonic since its long-awaited opening last month.

In a statement, Sonic officials said the company and its franchisee will continue to work closely with municipal authorities to control traffic around the drive-in. They also said that traffic volume typically levels off once a drive-in "becomes a more established part of community life."

The uniformed officers hired by Sonic tell drivers that they cannot wait on the highway. Most drivers listen and return moments later for a chance at securing an open parking space, Molinelli said.

Unfortunately, ticketing drivers who attempt to queue up on the mainline of Route 17 isn't going to prevent these kinds of incidents. It's going to require more than that.

The best that Sonic and Hasbrouck Heights can hope for is that the novelty of the chain wears off and traffic doesn't back up onto the highway as it has regularly since the chain opened locations in Hasbrouck Heights and Totowa.

As for the driver who was involved in the injury to the police officer, it turns out he was unlicensed and attempted to access the Sonic queue to park despite the officer telling Yi to drive away. He deserves what's coming to him.

The new rules do nothing to prevent this kind of incident since the cops will have to risk their lives in traffic to keep people from backing up onto Route 17. Perhaps the police will have to station police cars to block traffic rather than put officers on foot from doing that work.

The Obligatory Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Review

Last night, Mrs. Lawhawk and I decided to have a date night and we took in dinner and a movie, which happened to be Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Don't worry, there wont be any spoilers here, although I figure that many people are aware that there is a character called Harry Potter, a series of books detailing his exploits, and that there is a movie franchise that has raked in billions featuring Potter and his friends as they deal with the return of the evil Lord Voldemort.

I will say that the packed house was quite taken with the movie. There was a good mix of humor and suspense, and while a major character is killed off you almost expect to see him again in the form of flashbacks and other magical guises.

The acting in this movie is far more sophisticated than the earlier movies, and that can be attributed to the fact that the actors playing the key roles of students are themselves growing up and become more sure of themselves. Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) is perhaps the funniest of the characters, and has a knack for physical comedy and sight gags.

Much of the movie focuses on the coming of age of the students at Hogwarts and it focuses on an attempt to find out about the background of Voldemort, which may prove useful in the coming war against Voldemort and his minions.

The visuals of the movie are quite entertaining and remarkable. The apparation of various witches and wizards reminds me of the techniques used in the X-Men movie franchise to depict the teleportation abilities of Nightcrawler.

It's used to excellent effect.

Altogether, I'd rate this move 4 out of 5 if you consider it a standalone movie, or a 3 out of 5 if you attempt to compare it to the book, which has a slightly different ending and resolution.

However, I suspect that the different endings might be explained in the fact that the final installment of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, will be made into two movies. With two movies to split up all the action and resolution, the director and producers might have shifted some of the details and information from Half Blood Prince into the first part of Deathly Hollows, particularly because some of those scenes involved flashbacks.

In any event, this is a transition movie leading up to the ultimate battle between good and evil.

I can't wait to see how they transform the final book into the movies.

A Real Killer

President Obama and his fellow Democrats are hell bent on ramming through a health care reform act that doesn't actually reform health care and will end up increasing the costs for health care, will kill job creation in small businesses, put a damper on the economy, and may end up killing patients in need of care. Moreover, one of the plans actually outlaws private health care providers, making the government solely responsible for health care insurance in the nation.

For starters, how exactly can a byzantine health care delivery system such as the one proposed result in lower costs?


Organizational Chart of House Democrats Health Plan -

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

The House plan basically phases out private health care altogether:

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.

People will initially be able to keep their private carriers, but they wont be able to switch. Doing so puts them in the pool of people who can only choose the government plans. The government plans, which will rely on massive taxation, will undercut the private plans since they aren't subsidized by the government, and businesses will drop their private coverage in favor of the government plan, which we're all paying for in any event. They reduce choice, plain and simple, and if you don't like it and want to opt out of paying for insurance, you'll be taxed for that privilege.

The health care proposals are sweeping in their tax and grab breath. In New York, the plans would be a disaster. It would put the marginal tax rates imposed on wage earners making as little as $80,000 at well above 50%, when factoring in state and local taxes.

The $544 billion tax hike would violate one of President Obama's ironclad campaign promises: No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s.

Under the bill, three new tax brackets would be created for high earners, with a top rate of 45 percent for families making more than $1 million. That would be the highest income-tax rate since 1986, when the top rate was 50 percent.

The legislation is especially onerous for business owners, in part because it penalizes employers with a payroll bigger than $400,000 some 8 percent of wages if they don't offer health care.

But the cost of the buy-in to the program may be so prohibitive that it will dissuade owners from growing their businesses -- a scary prospect in the midst of a recession.

Obama took to the airwaves yesterday with ads and TV interviews promoting the need to reform health care.

As a Senate health committee passed a different version of a health-care reform bill - a milestone for the issue - Obama said on NBC, "The American people have to realize that there's no such thing as a free lunch."

And in a Rose Garden speech, he said the "status quo" on health care is "threatening the financial stability of families, of businesses, and of government. It's unsustainable, and it has to change."

Asked if Obama supports the surtax on wealthiest Americans even though it would break a campaign pledge, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said only, "It's a process that we're watching."

Republicans in Washington and small-business defenders in New York said the House legislation would effectively place a stranglehold on businesses while running off top earners.

Not only do these plans violate Obama's no tax hikes pledge on 95% of Americans, but he does so with massive tax hikes to boot. Throw in the fact that he's intent on imposing surtaxes on the very groups of people who are most likely to create jobs, and you have a significant brake on the economic recovery that he's hoping will improve Democrat chances in 2010 and beyond.

As Hot Air points out, the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that many of the top wage earners in the nation are the very people who provide health care in the first place. If the tax burden increases on them the more work they do, why will they strive to see more patients? They will do just enough to maintain their current income levels, will engage in tax avoidance strategies, and the number of health care professionals will decrease, leaving fewer doctors to provide care to more people. That, on its face, is a serious reduction in the quality of care.

In other words, these plans are stunning in their economic destructiveness.

Now, as for what they will actually do to the delivery of health care? It's not much better. In fact, as reported by the AP and other outlets, the US already provides government health care to several groups of people. The Indian Health Service is supposed to provide quality health care to Native Americans across the nation. It has an abysmal record, and the quality of care is such that you don't want to get sick or injured on nights or weekends or pretty much any other time since the care is so shoddy.

The IHS has failed in its mandate to provide quality free health care as required by federal law and treaties with the Native American tribes. The care is free, but it isn't quality. In fact, it can be a real killer.

Then, there's the Veterans Administration, which is supposed to care for members of the US Armed Services; the very people sworn to defend the nation. We owe it to our Armed Forces to provide quality care, and yet we have repeatedly seen shoddy care, coverups, and inadequate resources devoted to quality care.

That inadequate care goes back decades and while the quality of care has improved to some degree, it still falls far short of the quality of care found outside the VA system.

Both systems service a population that is several magnitudes smaller than that of the entire US health care delivery system. Yet seeing how the government can't provide quality health care in either of those instances, why should anyone believe that the government will do better with the health care delivery of hundreds of millions of Americans?

UPDATE:
The Congressional Budget Office has thrown cold water on the Congressional health care bills, noting that it will not bring down costs of health care.

Under questioning from Chairman Kent Conrad , D-N.D., Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee that the congressional proposals released so far do not meet that second test.

“In the legislation that has been reported, we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and, on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs,” he said.

Elmendorf was not addressing the narrow question of whether the Democrats’ legislation would be budget-neutral over 10 years. Congressional Democrats and the White House have promised to offset the cost of health care legislation over that period.

But budget analysts and some members fear the legislation will not slow the growth of health care spending enough to prevent it from overwhelming the federal budget after that 10-year window.

Also, to remain budget neutral, massive taxation is required. The Democrats aren't even attempting to overhaul the health care delivery system without imposing massive taxation on already overburdened taxpayers, and this testimony reinforces that fact. Indeed, the costs will only rise as those imposed taxes don't meet revenue projections, requiring still more tax hikes or reduced services to compensate.

UPDATE:
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) says that he's close to getting bipartisan support on the health care makeover.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus(D-Mont.) said Thursday that he hopes to have a bipartisan deal on a health care reform bill by the end of the day.

He made the remarks after huddling for about two hours with five Finance Committee members most closely involved in the negotiations. It was the first time Baucus acknowledged a time frame for reaching an agreement.

“We are meeting very aggressively today,” Baucus said of the bipartisan group, which plans to meet again at 1:30 p.m. “We will keep meeting all day long. I hope we can reach some kind of agreement by the end of the day, but having said that, it depends on what kind it is.”

Asked again by reporters if he expected a deal Thursday, Baucus reverted back to his standard line that the group “will be ready when we’re ready.”

Baucus said the task of filling a $320 billion hole in the bill has been challenging since the Democratic leadership and President Barack Obama asked Baucus last week to take the idea of taxing health benefits off the table.

It's called taxes without calling it such. It will be playing fast and loose with the definitions and tax treatment of income and health care expenses, but the reality is that it will be new and additional taxes imposed to fund this mess.

More to the point, Baucus has no choice but admit that the bill as presented to him was not revenue neutral as written, which is a sign of bad things to come.

A Sonic Injury

I've now been to both the Sonic in Totowa and the one in Hasbrouck Heights New Jersey. The first thing that greets you is the incredible line of cars waiting to get into the lots. It's worse at Hasbrouck Heights because of the layout and construction along Route 17, but traffic can and does get backed up onto the mainline highways.

I can't entirely say what the fascination is with the fast food served, although the limeades are quite tasty. The rest of the food is typical fast food fare.

Police have been at both locations since the chain opened locations in New Jersey to manage traffic, and routinely direct cars away since the parking lots can't handle the traffic. These police are putting themselves in danger, and last night a police officer in Hasbrouck Heights was injured after being struck by a car while directing traffic.

The officer, whose name was not immediately released, was in serious condition at Hackensack University Medical Center, police said. They still were interviewing witnesses late tonight, and released few details.

Several teenagers in their cars at the drive-in heard the crash and ran to the scene, on Route 17 north. They saw a Honda Civic with its front end smashed, facing north, and up against an Acura SUV facing south, both vehicle pinned against the center median in the northbound lane.

They said they saw the officer pinned between the two cars. “The officer wasn’t moving … his eyes were closed,” said Ryan Conlon, 17, of Allendale.

“We heard, like, a screech, and then a loud thud … it sounded like somebody hit something heavy,” said Conlon, who was at the drive-in with two friends, Brandon Neuburger, 18, of Allendale, and Nicole Piazza, 18, of Ho-Ho-Kus.

Police called for help from other departments along Route 17 to help clear the way while en route to the hospital with the injured officer.

I don't think Sonic had any idea of the traffic their chain would generate, or the road rage generated by cars waiting for more than an hour to get into a fast food chain.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the injured officer.

Sales Tax Revenues Down Significantly In NY Means More Budget Woes

State sales tax revenues are down 10% so far, which means that the state's FY 2009-2010 budget is already out of whack, and will continue to face shortfalls as the local economy shows no sign of rebounding. The problems are bad all over the state, but upstate areas are especially hard hit.

Tourism money isn't happening either, as luxury goods are off in a big way particularly at those retail stores that have a big foreign following.

The revenues have to be made up somewhere in the state budget, and cutting spending isn't going to happen, despite the fact that the FY 2009-2010 budget is billions more than last year's budget. That includes billions in new taxes imposed, which bring the state budget to an eye popping $132 billion in spending. Revenues aren't supporting that figure. In fact, the revenue forecasts could hardly support the prior year's budget.

Much of the state's budget increase is based on new taxes and fees levied in the hope that it would raise billions in revenues. Watch those revenues fall far short of their mark, making the state's dire fiscal situation all the worse.

Meanwhile, part of the federal stimulus will come to New York in the form of spending $1 million on signage for projects that will use federal ARRA funds. More to the point, the state is shelling out $5,000 per sign at a time when other states have either outright refused to make them, or are paying $500 per sign.

It's the New York way. Why spend on extraneous items when you can lavishly spend on extraneous items.

NY Attorney General Cuomo Seeking Settlement With Rattner

Steve Rattner isn't out of the woods just yet. Reports indicate that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo might pursue a civil settlement rather than seek criminal indictments over the pension pay to play scandal.

The New York attorney general may press for a legal settlement with Steven Rattner, until recently an Obama administration adviser on the auto industry, over possible civil charges in a pay-to-play investigation, The Associated Press reported.

Rattner announced Monday that he was resigning his position on the White House's auto industry task force, which led the restructure of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. It remained unclear Tuesday whether that departure had anything to do with the ongoing public corruption probe that has nibbled at his heels in New York.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged a state official and a political consultant with extracting millions of dollars in kickbacks from investment firms trying to raise money from the state's big public pension fund.

The private equity firm Rattner led before joining President Obama's administration, the Quadrangle Group, paid more than $1 million to one of the people indicted in the case, New York political consultant Hank Morris.

A person familiar with the investigation said that criminal charges were unlikely but that Rattner or Quadrangle could reach civil settlements like those Cuomo has reached recently with other companies that made similar payments. The person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the pending investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

This ignores the fact that Rattner and Quadrangle were also implicated in a pay to play mess in New Mexico that embroiled former Presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

Millions of dollars in fines have already been paid by several companies to avoid further action.

Two weeks ago, the Pacific Corporate Group agreed to pay $2 million to resolve its role in the probe. Riverstone Holdings said it would pay $30 million. The Carlyle Group, one of the nation's largest private equity funds, agreed to pay $20 million in May.

Paying the fines rather than seeking criminal indictments is an easier way to clear the dockets and to avoid complicated trials. Given the money flowing through all these companies and entities, criminal charges could be seen as more appropriate as a deterrent. However, the City and State of New York have eliminated the role of placement agents in obtaining pension business, but the influence peddling is still a serious concern.

The Obama Administration Economic Train Wreck

President Obama is now declining to project where unemployment will go.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday declined to predict how high unemployment will climb but made clear he expects it to keep worsening for a while as hiring lags behind other signs of economic recovery.

"How employment numbers are going to respond is not year clear," the president said on a day when he was headed to Michigan, home of a particularly battered economy. "My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months."

The unemployment rate stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in 26 years.

Obama, addressing reporters in the Oval Office, said the stabilization of the financial markets has allowed banks to start lending again and some small businesses to stay afloat. But he said his administration is aware that the most important factor is whether people are able to get good-paying jobs.

More than 2 million jobs have been lost since Congress passed Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. Without that government intervention, Obama said, states like Michigan would be even worse shape because they would have had to lay off more teachers, firefighters and other workers.

His experts have been decidedly wrong to date, and he's not going to estimate where the rate is ultimately going to level out.

It's gotten to the point where he's not even trotting out the tired and completely inane claim of jobs created or saved as a metric, because you can't claim that the porkfest stimulus created jobs when there are millions more on the unemployment rolls than before the stimulus was signed into law.

Let's just say that it's an understatement. Obama's economic team thought unemployment rates would level out at 8.5%. It's now approaching 10% and I fully expect the rates to go well north of that.

Every one of those overly rosy projections by Obama's team has a direct effect on the deficit and government revenues since it means more people will be drawing benefits, and there are fewer people paying in that expected. Every one of his estimates going forward is off as a result; and the numbers look even worse given that the economic growth he was planning for isn't going to come to pass. That means all his rosy budget projections are going to be wrong. The cost? You don't want to know - and the Administration isn't going to go out of its way to say either.

Scary Video Of Southwest Air Flight

Here's video taken by a passenger who was on board a Southwest Airlines airplane when part of the fuselage ripped open, tearing a hole in the roof of the cabin.

A Southwest Airlines 737 aircraft that originated in Nashville made an emergency landing in Charleston after the passenger cabin became depressurized because a hole appeared in the fuselage.

Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority spokesman Brian Belcher said Flight 2294 was diverted to Yeager Airport and landed shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday. There were 126 passengers and five crew members on board.

John Benson of Knoxville was on Flight 2294 with his two sons. Benson was planning on taking his sons to New York by way of Baltimore. What was supposed to be a nice family trip, quickly turned into one of the most frightening experiences of his life.

"Literally the whole top of the plane ripped off," Benson said.

Thankfully, no one was injured when the failure occurred at altitude causing a depressurization of the cabin.

It will be interesting to see why the fuselage suffered the failure. Metal fatigue is likely to be faulted. Watch for investigations to focus on maintenance and for the FAA and NTSB to recommend additional checks to look for failures in this area.

Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings Day 2

Today we get into the meat and potatoes of the confirmation, where members of the Senate Judiciary Committee ask Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor questions about her judicial philosophy. The Times and Scotusblog are live blogging the hearings.

Don't expect much in the way of fireworks or new details to emerge from the hearings. I do hope that the Committee asks her about her procedural treatment of Ricci, a decision in which all nine members of the US Supreme Court found wanting, even if four members agreed with the ultimate decision of the Second Circuit. The four dissenting members found that while they may have agreed with the outcome of the case, Sotomayor used the wrong standard to reach that end, and if it was a summary judgment, why did they grant it to New Haven.

Obama Derangement Syndrome Has No Place In US Military

Ah the nirthers have another one convinced of their lunacy. And it's going to end badly for this guy, who is a soldier in the US Armed Forces. He's going to be in for a rude awakening. I have no sympathy for him. At all.

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, set to deploy to Afghanistan, says he shouldn’t have to go.

His reason?

Barack Obama was never eligible to be president because he wasn’t born in the United States.

Actually, Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, two years after it became a state.

Cook’s lawyer, Orly Taitz, who has also challenged the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency in other courts, filed a request last week in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector for his client.

In the 20-page document — filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia — the California-based Taitz asks the court to consider granting his client’s request based upon Cook’s belief that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Cook further states he “would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties.”

President Obama is the Commander in Chief. He was duly sworn in and is our President. Period. End stop.

Disobeying an order to deploy? That's a direct violation of the UCMJ.

Bastille Day Carbeques

In the United States, we celebrate Independence Day with barbeques and fireworks.

In France, they spend Bastille Day torching hundreds of cars.

French youths burned 317 cars and wounded 13 police officers overnight during the now traditional bout of street violence on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday, police say.

As French troops and their guests of honour from the Indian army made last minute preparations for the July 14 parade on the Champs Elysees in Paris, the suburbs of major cities were contemplating another clean-up operation.

By 6:00am (2pm AEST), police headquarters in Paris had recorded 317 burnt out cars - up 6.7 percent on 2008 - and 240 arrests, almost double the total for the same period last year.

These numbers were expected to increase as fresh reports came in.

The injured officers, 12 members of the police and one gendarme, were mainly suffering from hearing difficulties after being targeted by youths throwing fireworks and small-scale home-made explosives.

Since when is wanton destruction of property an acceptable and traditional means of celebrating the overthrow of the monarchy in France?

It hasn't, but the government has been unable to stop the torching of cars throughout the banlieues which are attributed to disaffected youth who can't find jobs and have bleak futures because the French can't integrate foreigners into their culture.

No Pasaran has more on the "traditional" events.

This year's carbeques are worse than prior years possibly because of ongoing clashes between rioters and police in a French town following the death of a suspect in custody. Police say the death was a suicide, but there are calls for a more thorough investigation. The rioters think the police are to blame, so they torch buildings and cars.

French riot police firing teargas and plastic bullets have struggled to contain three nights of rioting and arson by youths on suburban estates in the Loire, amid protests over the death of a 21-year-old in police custody.

High-rises in Firminy, a small town bordering countryside on the outskirts of Saint-Étienne, saw running battles between police and youths in the early hours of this morning after Mohamed Benmouna, a local supermarket cashier, was taken from his police cell in a coma and died in hospital.

Benmouna, who had been arrested on extortion charges, died on Wednesday. Police said he attempted to hang himself in his cell and fell into a coma. His Algerian family, sceptical of the official story, have filed a lawsuit to establish the circumstances of his death and whether police violence was covered up.

The local state prosecutor, Jacques Pin, said a postmortem confirmed Benmouna died of suffocation and his body showed no trace of violence or police abuse. But he said video surveillance equipment that would normally have filmed Benmouna's cell was not functioning properly. The police inspectorate has opened an investigation.

Car Czar Canned; Steve Rattner Replaced By Ron Bloom

No, this isn't some new production of The Producers. Ron Bloom, a man with absolutely no experience in the auto industry is replacing Steve Rattner as President Obama's car czar.

Steven Rattner, head of the Obama administration’s auto task force, is leaving that post and will be replaced by former steelworkers official Ron Bloom.

The administration said Monday that Rattner decided to return to private life and his family in New York City.

Rattner won praise for the job he did managing the massive restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. But his government service came under a cloud with an investigation of an influence peddling scandal back in New York.

Authorities have said that Rattner, an investment banker, was unlikely to face charges in the investigation which involved a giant state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for more than 1 million government employees.

The timing is rather curious. GM and Chrysler were just turned out of bankruptcy in record time given their size and complexity of their respective situations. Why did Rattner suddenly feel the need to spend more time with his family? That's usually an excuse for someone facing criminal prosecution or other ethical or legal lapses.

The AP reports that authorities say that Rattner was unlikely to face charges, but curiously enough the only authorities to have said anything were those connected with the White House. No one in law enforcement has actually said anything, particularly because Rattner is connected with ongoing investigations across the country on pension pay to play and chicanery involving the New York State Comptroller's Office.

Rattner has been on the periphery of pay to play pension scandals in New York and New Mexico, and I've been saying for some time that indictments should be expected. Those investigations have implicated Bill Richardson as well.

As a result of Rattner's company's actions, the City and State of New York have banned the use of placement agents, and the City Comptroller is looking at whether Rattner lied about his ties to Hank Morris.

So, who is replacing Rattner as Obama's car czar? Ron Bloom, who has experience in the steel industry, but who has absolutely no experience in the auto industry, and has even less experience than Steve Rattner.

Osama Strikes Back At Pakistanis In Latest "Video"

Days after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari admitted that Pakistan was behind nurturing and birthing Islamic terrorist groups, al Qaeda has released a video with Osama bin Laden mouthing off on the Pakistanis.

Osama Bin Laden told Pakistanis their leaders are "allies of Satan" in a newly released tape, urging them to fight the offensive in tribal areas where Al Qaeda and the Taliban are entrenched.

Bin Laden zeroed in on the Swat Valley and the Pashtun tribal belt on the Afghan border for his 32nd taped rant since the 9/11 attacks.

The Pakistani army has fought extremists in Swat who are imposing a brutal version of shariah, or Islamic law. The army has also moved against Waziristan - home turf of Taliban, Al Qaeda leaders and friendly warlords.

"Are you for the establishment of the shariah or are you for those who wage war against it, from America, [Pakistani President] Zardari and his aides?" Bin Laden said, according to a transcript of the tape provided to the Daily News.

"Zardari and his army are the allies of Satan."

I put the term video in quotes since Osama isn't actually seen in the video speaking, but it is yet another voiceover.

Osama and his fellow terrorists in al Qaeda and their coreligionists in the Taliban are feeling the sting of Pakistani military pressure while trying to outlast and outrun ISAF efforts in Afghanistan. He can't wait for that pressure to be let up, and he can only hope that some other Islamist tries to bump off Zardari or cause the Pakistani military to give up its efforts to limit the Taliban spread through the frontier provinces.

While the Taliban continue to hold on to vast areas, al Qaeda and Taliban leaders continue to be targeted by US airstrikes and Pakistani efforts. Those airstrikes have sent the Taliban leaders into hiding.

Obama To Nominate Regina Benjamin MD as Surgeon General

Reports indicate that President Obama will nominate Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General of the United States. His prior choice, Sanjay Gupta, withdrew from consideration.

Benjamin is best known for setting up a rural family practice on the Gulf Coast and has won several media accolades and was a MacArthur Fellow:

Benjamin is skilled, as well, in translating research on preventive health measures into accessible, community-based interventions to decrease the disease burdens of her diverse patient base, which includes immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, who comprise a third of Bayou La Batre’s population. A committed local physician, she also plays key roles statewide and nationally, helping others establish clinics in remote areas of the country and serving in leadership positions in such health-related organizations as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. With a deep, firsthand knowledge of the pressing needs and health disparities afflicting rural, high-poverty communities, Benjamin is ensuring that the most vulnerable among us have access to high-quality care.

She was the first African-American woman on the American Medical Association's board of trustees when she was elected to the post in 1995.

Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Confirmation Underway

You can follow along with video coverage here.

Without Senator Joe Biden present, I expect the discourse to be somewhat improved. That said, these confirmations are more about having the Senators expound relentlessly so that they can hear their own voices, rather than get the nominee to opine on their judicial philosophy.

Watch the GOP attempt to get a clearer understanding of Sotomayor's position on Ricci, and why she reached the decision she did and which was lambasted by all nine members on the Court.

Today's hearings will lay the groundwork for her eventual confirmation (Democrats hold the numbers to make this happen regardless of GOP opposition).

UPDATE:
Scotusblog has running updates and is liveblogging. Also, here are some questions that a range of law professors and experts would like to see asked (though don't expect any substantive answers).

This Is What Got Democrats In A Tizzy?

Pardon me while I stop laughing at all those who breathlessly wondered when US Attorney General Eric Holder would start filing indictments against Bush Administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

Apparently the super secret program that the Vice President kept from Congressional leaders was nothing other than a plan to capture and kill top al Qaeda leaders.

A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.

The precise nature of the highly classified effort isn’t clear, and the CIA won’t comment on its substance.

According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn’t become fully operational at the time Mr. Panetta ended it.

In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. It isn’t clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.

So why exactly did CIA Director Panetta stop this program? What exactly was he uncomfortable about? More to the point, why was this program not fully operational when Panetta ended it? Could it be that this program was ended because it wasn't an efficient use of CIA limited resources at a time when other efforts, such as UAV airstrikes, have been shown to be quite effective?

The takeaway from this is that the Bush Administration was contemplating a secret initiative that would have worked towards a goal of eliminating top al Qaeda terrorists like Zawahiri and bin Laden. Seeing how a President's foremost goal is to provide and maintain the security of the United States, eliminating the terrorists responsible for the grievous loss of life on 9/11 would be a priority.

Democrats will claim that this proposal somehow broke the law because Congressional leaders were not kept apprised of the CIA proposal, but given how this plan fizzled out before it got to the operational stage, and was superseded by other programs like the UAV airstrikes that have killed dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban thugs, including several high profile targets, this is much ado about nothing. It's part of an ongoing attempt by Democrats to politicize and criminalize policy differences.

How Much CO2 Does This Posting Produce?

So, how much does reading an article online produce in terms of carbon dioxide?

It depends on the length of the article and time spent on it, but a bunch of scientists have tried to quantify carbon output of online endeavors.

Twenty milligrams; that's the average amount of carbon emissions generated from the time it took you to read the first two words of this article.
How green is your website? Calculating all the factors involved in a website can be tricky.

How green is your website? Calculating all the factors involved in a website can be tricky.

Now, depending on how quickly you read, around 80, perhaps even 100 milligrams of C02 have been released. And in the several minutes it will take you to get to the end of this story, the number of milligrams of greenhouse gas emitted could be several thousand, if not more.

This may not seem like a lot: "But in aggregate, if you consider all the people visiting a web site and then all the seconds that each of them spends on it, it turns out to be a large number," says Dr. Alexander Wissner-Gross, an Environmental Fellow at Harvard University who studies the environmental impact of computing.

Wissner-Gross estimates every second someone spends browsing a simple web site generates roughly 20 milligrams of C02. Whether downloading a song, sending an email or streaming a video, almost every single activity that takes place in the virtual environment has an impact on the real one.

As millions more go online each year some researchers say the need to create a green Internet ecosystem is not only imperative but also urgent.

"It is part of the whole sustainability picture," Chris Large, head of research and development at UK-based Climate Action Group, told CNN.

If anything, it magnifies the point I've been making repeatedly - it's far easier on the environment if former Vice President and global warming proponent Al Gore substituted teleconferencing for his jet setting ways.

This article also sets up a rather disturbing notion - that limiting Internet usage may be in the future as a way to "curb" carbon output. By setting up the idea that mass usage of online systems will adversely affect the environment, it's opening the door to government intrusions to limit online activities in the name of "saving the environment." Never mind that online endeavors can and have replaced tangible items, such as newspapers, which damage the environment through paper production and distribution, but makes the distribution of information ever more efficient (even if not everyone is worth reading; the information is at least at your fingertips).

Chinese and South Korean Intel Sources Say Kim Il Jung Has Pancreatic Cancer

Various reports over the past couple of years have noted that North Korean strongman Kim Il Jung has been in pretty bad health. It's been suggested that he's been recovering from a stroke. His most recent appearance showed Kim with a frail appearance.

The latest report suggests that he has pancreatic cancer.

Mr. Kim’s health is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the reclusive communist state of North Korea. Mr. Kim, 67, was widely thought to have suffered a stroke last year, but there has never been official confirmation.

He looked gaunt during a public appearance last Wednesday at a memorial for his father, the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung.

The YTN account did not explain how the sources for its information learned about the pancreatic cancer diagnosis. But if Mr. Kim does have pancreatic cancer, it is likely to mean he could only have months to live, perhaps less. The disease is one of the most hard to detect in its early stages and has one of the highest fatality rates.

Such a diagnosis would also make questions about the succession process in North Korea, and control of its nuclear weapons program, far more urgent.

The North conducted its second nuclear test on May 25. The United Nations responded with toughened sanctions aimed at cutting off the impoverished state’s lucrative arms trade and one of its few sources of hard cash.

There is still the question of who will succeed him, and while signs point to one of his sons, it's not a sure thing.