Iran Gains Victory in U.N.

One has to wonder why an oil-rich country like Iran wants a nuclear energy program. Perhaps Tehran has embraced the global environmentalist movement and will soon embark on a country-wide recycling program, too.

Iran Boasts of Victory Over U.S. on Nuclear Case
By Paul Hughes

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran boasted on Tuesday it had defeated U.S. efforts to send its nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council while warning that its uranium enrichment freeze would only last for a few months.

"The Americans have been calling for Iran to be reported to the Security Council for a year and a half, now the whole world has turned down America's calls," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani told a news conference.

"Despite the U.S. propaganda Iran has not relinquished its right to the (nuclear) fuel cycle and it never will do," said the cleric, who is secretary-general of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council. His comments appeared to undermine European Union efforts to persuade Tehran to permanently mothball
enrichment facilities -- which can be used to make atomic reactor fuel or nuclear bombs -- and were likely to fuel U.S. concerns that Iran secretly plans to produce nuclear weapons.

Iran, which insists its nuclear program is solely for electricity generation, on Monday escaped possible U.N. sanctions after agreeing to suspend all uranium processing and enrichment activities.

Remember the mayonnaise jar...and the beer

At mass this past Sunday at the Fort Lee Chapel, the priest started his homily with the following:

Remember the mayonnaise jar...and the beer

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the beer.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends,your favorite passions-- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. "Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised his hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers.

Chirac: Intervention OK, with UN Approval

There's a great irony here. It is plain to see that France fancies itself the leader of the free world and not just of popular culture, fashion, and food. It is only from the bully pupit of the United Nations that France (through Chirac) reigns supreme over her empire of third-rate dictatorships and nearly failed states. Isn't it amazing how much influence nuclear technology can get you?

Britain is as important to France as Germany, says Chirac
By Times Online

Jacques Chirac told Oxford students today that France's relations with Britain were as important to it as its ties with Germany, despite recent disagreements over the war in Iraq.

Wrapping up a two-day visit to the UK, Chirac also defended the right to intervene in the internal affairs of other sovereign states, for security or humanitarian reasons - but only with United Nations’ backing.

"Do not allow yourselves to be taken in," the French President told Oxford University students when asked if the Franco-German axis in Europe had now replaced the Entente Cordiale, the end of colonial rivalry between London and Paris 100 years ago.

"Our relationship with Great Britain is as important as our relationship with Germany," he said."Friendship is always progress. It’s not a substitute, it’s an addition."

Britain and France have had what M. Chirac referred to as a "stormy love affair", locking horns on issues from European agricultural subsidies to the Iraq war.

Anti-war comments by M. Chirac in the run-up to his visit to Britain had threatened to sour talks with Tony Blair but the two have tried to put their differences behind them.

In a public show of unity, M. Chirac pledged full cooperation on the Middle East, Africa and climate change when Britain heads the G8 group of rich nations and the European Union in
2005.

"Even if in our history, and in our recent history, we have had different points of view, it is very clear that this is mere froth on the surface. The reality is that there is a deep and friendly understanding between Britain and France," he said.

Britons had saved some French villages from extinction, he said, with some half a million owning houses in France. Taking questions for 50 minutes in French, M. Chirac said war was always the "worst solution" but he defended the theory of intervention.

"I support the right to intervene for reasons of security or human rights, but only within the framework of international law, which is expressed today by the UN", he said.

M. Chirac also urged reform of the UN Security Council to become more representative of "today’s world", backing a permanent place for Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and a large African country like South Africa or Nigeria. He said he supported a council of 20 to 25 members and was in favour of more non-permanent members.

Chirac Blasts War in Iraq

French President Jacques Chirac, whose popularity has sunk to its lowest level in seven years (Kelleher, Mary. "Chirac's Popularity Sinks on Turkey and Economy."Oct 24, 2004), continues to demonstrate that he's no friend of the United States. Despite his insistence (through backhanded compliments) that Franco-American relations are rooted in "friendship, understanding, and mutual respect," it’s clear that his repeated rants are just a thinly-veiled strategy to keep the French people from banishing him to the Bastille. It’s the old slight of hand trick: ignore how jacked-up things are in France and look at those evil Americans.

Chirac Decries Iraq War Before London Trip

ED JOHNSON
Associated Press

LONDON - The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq mobilized Islamic extremists and made the world more dangerous, French President Jacques Chirac said, keeping up his vocal opposition to the war on the eve of a visit to London.

"There's no doubt that there has been an increase in terrorism and one of the origins of that has been the situation in Iraq," Chirac told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview to be broadcast later Wednesday.

"To a certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing. But it also provoked reactions, such as the mobilization in a number of countries, of men and women of Islam, which has made the world more dangerous," Chirac said, speaking in French which was translated into English by the BBC.

Despite Chirac's criticism of the war, officials in Paris say he wants stronger relations with Washington.

The issue will figure prominently in talks Thursday between Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has called for reconciliation between European leaders and the newly re-elected President Bush.

Chirac also said that France and the United States have a 200-year history of "cooperation, friendship and solidarity."

The dispute over Iraq does not "mean that our relationship is in question," he added. "Don't let's confuse a state of continuing friendship, understanding and mutual respect, allied to a trans-Atlantic link, with a differing stance on the specific situation in Iraq."

Chirac added that while France would help Iraq "achieve her sovereignty and hopefully develop her potential," he could not envisage sending troops to the country.

Blair's spokesman said Chirac's views on the war are well known, and insisted differences over Iraq would not stop cooperation on such issues as climate change, alleviating poverty in Africa and pushing forward the Middle East peace process.

"President Chirac's position (on Iraq) does not come as a surprise," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. "Let's be grown up about this. We have a difference of view but that does not mean we can't work together."

He emphasized that France, Britain and Germany worked closely in reaching a deal with Iran over civil nuclear power. He pointed to France's support in Afghanistan and the role Paris could play in the Middle East peace process.

In Paris, French presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said Chirac and Blair would discuss ways of rebuilding the trans-Atlantic relationship, which he described as "the spine of our security."

Pentagon Boots Boy Scouts

Chalk up another victory for the ACLU, which has been relentless in its pursuit of eradicating references to God, even those "religion-neutral and denomination-neutral expressions that are part of our country's heritage." (Limbaugh, David. "Toward Freedom of Religion." 2001.)

Eric Johnston, PlanetOut Network

The Boy Scouts of America, an organization that excludes gay boys and men, will be less cozy with the military in the future, thanks to an agreement announced Monday in which the Defense Department agreed to warn military bases worldwide not to directly sponsor Boy Scout troops.

This time the issue was God, not gays. The Boy Scouts requires its members to swear an oath to God. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, that policy violates the religious liberty of youth who wish to participate but do not wish to swear a religious oath.

The ACLU of Illinois sued the Pentagon in 1999, arguing that sponsorship of the Boy Scout amounts to religious discrimination.

"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based upon religious beliefs," said ACLU spokesman Adam Schwartz in reaction to the military's agreement to settle the case.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Defense Department has 60 days to issue a statement to U.S. defense facilities and military bases across the world making clear that Defense officials may not sponsor Boy Scout organizations. The settlement does not prohibit off-duty government employees from sponsoring Boy Scout troops on their own time.

"I think it's an excellent and long overdue development," said Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group dedicated to safeguarding religious freedom. "Groups that discriminate on religious grounds in that manner should not be sponsored by any unit of government."

Boston told the PlanetOut Network that while the issue of discrimination against gays by the Boy Scouts received widespread media coverage, many people aren't aware that "atheists, agnostics, humanists and skeptics are also not welcome."

Hmm, I guess they need to change the commissioned officer's oath, too:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

Does the Liberal Press Like Rice?

The unoffical announcement that Dr. Condoleezza Rice will be nominated to lead U.S. diplomatic efforts during President Bush's second term by replacing Colin Powell headlined mainstream news sources this morning. Rice, considered more of a foreign-policy hard-liner than Powell, has been Bush's national security adviser for four years.

A quick scan of photographs in some of the major news websites reveals to me the subtle bias accompanying this announcement.

Why did ABC choose this rather stern picture of Dr. Rice?

How about this photo from CNN? Couldn't they find one without her mouth open?

This one from CBS is decidedly neutral...perhaps even pleasant.

Fox News found this photo. Whew! I was almost convinced that the woman never smiled.

Saddam Got $21 Billion from UN Oil Program

This certainly puts France's opposition to the war in a new light. I wonder how much French President Jacques Chirac pocketed. He certainly hasn't given up on taking potshots at the UK-US alliance.

Saddam Got $21 Billion from UN Oil Program -U.S. Panel
By Chris Baltimore

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's regime reaped over $21 billion from kickbacks and smuggling before and during the now-defunct U.N. oil-for-food program, twice as much as previous estimates, according to a U.S. Senate probe on Monday.

The monies flowed between 1991 and 2003 through oil surcharges, kickbacks on civilian goods and smuggling directly to willing governments, Senate investigators said at a hearing.

"How was the world so blind to this massive amount of influence-peddling?" asked Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, head of the investigations subcommittee.

The oil-for-food program began in December 1996 to alleviate the impact on ordinary Iraqis of sanctions, imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The U.N. Security Council allowed Iraq to sell oil and buy food, medicine and other goods and let Baghdad draw up its own contracts. This left room for abuse in the $64 billion program, administered by the United Nations and monitored by a U.N. Security Council panel, including the United States, according to investigators.

Panel investigators also echoed the findings by Duelfer, head of the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group, that Saddam's regime gave lucrative contracts to buy Iraqi oil to high-ranking officials in Russia, France and other nations.

Apparent Slaying Of Wounded Insurgent

My hope is that all the facts surrounding this incident are gathered before the media initiate the trial of public opinion. I fear it's probably too late.

Washington Post
November 16, 2004 Pg. 14

Marines Investigate Apparent Slaying Of Wounded Insurgent
By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer

Marine commanders in Iraq are investigating an incident in which a Marine apparently shot and killed a severely wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah, a Pentagon official said last night.

Images of the incident, captured Saturday on videotape by Kevin Sites, a freelance correspondent working for NBC News who is embedded with a Marine unit, were broadcast last night on several news networks. The videotape shows a squad of Marines entering the building and seeing several Iraqis lying against a wall, either dead or gravely wounded. One Marine shouts something about one Iraqi feigning death. The Marine then shoots the man in the head.

The networks did not broadcast the entire tape, saying some of it was too graphic. "NBC has chosen not to air the most gruesome of the images," NBC anchorman Brian Williams said in introducing the videotape.
According to Sites, the wounded men were insurgents who had battled a different group of Marines the day before. In that firefight, 10 Iraqi fighters were killed and five were wounded. Those five were treated with field bandages and left in the mosque because the conditions of combat did not allow the Marines to bring them out. Other Marines were supposed to collect the wounded Iraqis and take them for treatment, but, for reasons not yet known, that did not happen, Sites said.

Then, on Saturday, the Marines received a report that the area, which they thought had been cleared, had been reoccupied by insurgents, Sites said. A different squad of Marines that had not been involved in the previous day's encounter was sent to investigate. It entered the mosque and saw the men lying on the floor. It was then that the shooting occurred, according to the videotape.

The Marine who shot the wounded Iraqi had been wounded himself the day before but returned to duty. Since the incident he has been taken out of front-line duty, Sites said.

"My understanding is that the Marines have launched an inquiry into it," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He warned against overreacting to the videotape. "I wouldn't jump to any conclusions," he said. "We don't know all the facts here."

"Da Vinci Code" movie

Tom Hanks will reportedly star in a Da Vinci Code movie. I've personally read the book, which has generated all sorts of contraversy, and thought it very entertaining. It's a shame, though, that Angels & Demons won't hit the silver screen first. Perhaps with Hanks' star power, though, the prequel is likely.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks is expected to star in a film adapted from Dan Brown's popular novel "The Da Vinci Code," the Hollywood Reporter reported Monday.

Hanks, who will play the role of Robert Langdon, the professor who unravels the mystery, was the top choice for director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the report said. Columbia Pictures hopes to begin shooting the film next year.

Talks have begun for Hanks to join the project. "Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard was quoted as saying. "We probably don't need his status from a box office standpoint, but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."

Hanks, who currently can be seen onscreen in animated form in Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Polar Express," previously worked withHoward in 1995's "Apollo 13" and 1984's "Splash."

Jellis

This gentleman's observations about Arafat's demise are worth a quick perusal.

Jellis

Canadians Open Arms to Americans

A co-worker pointed out this article to me from CNN.com. When you consider that CNN has this down as mainstream news, it really shows you how far to the left they've traveled.

NOTE: I've abridged the article to save space.

"SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Rudi Kischer wants to help those Americans who have the post-election blues after U.S. President George W. Bush's second-term victory. The Vancouver, British Columbia, immigration lawyer plans seminars in three U.S. cities -- Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles -- to tell Americans frustrated with Bush's re-election that the grass is greener north of the border.

And that's not just an allusion to Canada's lenient marijuana laws.

There was so much interest that a Vancouver-based Internet company, Communicopia, set up a new Web site this month -- www.canadianalternative.com -- to suggest Canada as a viable option for its American clients, including anyone concerned about constitutional bans on gay marriage passed in 11 U.S. states this month.

Another Web site urges Canadians: "Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American. Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save our southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism."

Canada suddenly has utopian appeal for many left-leaning Americans. Its universal health care, gay rights, abortion rights, gun-control laws, drug laws, opposition to the Iraq war, ban on capital punishment and ethnic diversity mirror many values of the American left.
Immigrants, including an estimated 1 million Americans, make up nearly 20 percent of Canada's population. The United Nations named Toronto the world's most multicultural city.

And, as Michael Moore pointed out in "Bowling for Columbine" -- required viewing for many lefties -- in Canada there's apparently no reason to lock your door."

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.

Secretary Powell

Kimberly called me this morning to say that Secretary Powell had resigned. I'm sorry to see him go. His replacement, whoever he or she is, has big shoes to fill.

"WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his resignation to his staff during their Monday morning meeting, a State Department source told FOX News.

President Bush is expected to make the official announcement later Monday. The source suggested that Powell is likely to stay in place until a replacement is confirmed. "

Grandpa Mathews

Yesterday I drove up to Woodbridge, VA, to see Grandpa Mathews. He's in the area visiting friends and relatives. This is the first time Melanie and Melissa have met their great grandfather.