Now this is something I never expected when I heard that former UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher had passed at the age of 87.
Category Archives: World Issues
Taliban Getting Stronger?
That’s the conclusion of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI).
The heads of the Senate and House intelligence committees said Sunday the Taliban was gaining ground, just days after President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan and touted the progress made in the war on terror. “I think we’d both say that what we found is that the Taliban is stronger,” said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on CNN’s “State of the Union,” while sitting with Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan.
Obama To Spike The Football In Afghanistan?
Well, he is in Afghanistan, and he’s set to deliver a speech…
“President Barack Obama is in Afghanistan for a whirlwind visit that will culminate in a live, televised address to the American people,” a White House pool report said Tuesday.
Obama’s Latest Scapegoat For Gas Prices: Israel
He really wants to blame anyone except himself and anything except his own energy policies for higher gas prices:
The Obama administration is blaming Israel for the recent rise in global crude oil prices, according to a Sunday report in The World Tribune. The rise in fuel prices is deemed as harming the U.S. economy and has also hurt Obama in the polls as he seeks re-election in November.
Search For Carbon Offsets Pushing Poor Africans Off Farms
Hey, they should be happy to do their part to help lefties feel good about themselves, right?
According to a report released by the aid group Oxfam on Wednesday, more than 20,000 people say they were evicted from their homes here in recent years to make way for a tree plantation run by a British forestry company, emblematic of a global scramble for arable land.
Iran Invades Iraq!
UPI:
ERBIL, Iraq, July 11 (UPI) — Iranian forces are stationed about a 1 1/2 miles inside the Iraq border as part of an operation targeting Kurdish militants, a border official said.
A source inside the border patrol in the northern Kurdish provinces of Iraq said Iranian forces crossed the border during the weekend in pursuit of members of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK.
“The Iranian force is still stationed at the same positions it penetrated into on Sunday, following clashes between both sides,” the source told the Voices of Iraqi news agency.
Stationing troops inside another nation’s borders without permission is generally referred to as an “invasion.”
But did you hear about it on the evening news? If the websites are any indication, no, you didn’t.
CNN’s top stories in World (all of these are as of the time of this writing and may change):
Pakistani official downplays U.S. decision
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pakistan’s U.S. ambassador discuss the latest rift in U.S.-Pakistani relations. FULL STORY
Top World Stories
- Brown ‘shocked’ by new hacking claims
- Protesters target U.S., French embassies in Syria
- U.S.: Iraq must go after Shiite militia
- 6 police hurt in Northern Ireland riots
- Japan announces new nuclear safety tests
- Dozens dead after ship sinks in Russia
- At least 64 dead in India train crash
- 44 schoolboys die in road accident
- Yemen’s Saleh, top U.S. anti-terrorism official meet
Reports: Ex-UK PM targeted in hack attack
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown had his personal information targeted by elements of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, reports say. Full story
World’s first double leg transplant done in Spain
Clinton: Syria’s Assad has lost legitimacy to rule
NYT: Suspect freed in Afghan mutilation case
High levels of radiation in Japanese beef
Egyptians demand justice for slain protesters
‘Metal coffin’: 128 dead as Russia boat sinks
Maybe ABC has something…
International News
Death Toll at 67 in India Train Wreckage
More bodies have been pulled from wreckage of derailed train in northern India.Russian Cruise Ship Sinks, 90 Missing
Hope is fading for about 90 still missing day after cruise boat sinks in Volga.Kate Speaks as Royal Couple Leaves for Home
Kate says she “really enjoyed” the as royal couple leaves U.S. for England.Brit Bishop Loses Appeal for Denying Holocaust
Bishop Richard Williamson does not believe Jews were gassed in World War II.Music Festival Lures Fans to Arctic Circle
Festival-goers must make a journey that includes airplanes, boats and walking.Panetta: Al Qaeda’s Defeat ‘Within Reach’
New Defense Secretary begins first tour of war region as head of Pentagon.
Watch: U.S. Embassy Vandalized in Syria
Syrian government supporters attack the American and French embassies.
Okay, maybe CBS:
Top World NewsPrince Albert, Charlene wed in MonacoSome 2,000 headliners gather to watch the religious ceremony capping two days of wedding events Read Blog
- First double leg transplant carried out in Spain
- Qaddafi opponents have a stronghold in the west
- Sunk Russian boat was damaged, overcrowded
- Diplomacy in the age of Facebook
- Russian neo-Nazis get life sentences for murders
- Murdoch papers reportedly targeted Gordon Brown
- U.S. to protest Syrians’ attack on embassy
- Filipinos catch 13-foot croc in hunt for killer
I guess one country invading another just doesn’t qualify as news anymore.
Even The Dalai Lama Approves Of OBL Hit
Sorry, lefties, even the Buddhist leader is on our side on this one:
“In the case of Bin Laden, his action was of course destructive and the September 11 events killed thousands of people. So his action must be brought to justice,” the Dalai Lama said, according to a summary of his remarks posted on his website.
“If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures” he was quoted as saying – a surprising message from a man known across the planet as a harbinger of compassion.
And while bin Laden may have deserved forgiveness, that “did not mean that one should forget what has been done,” the Dalai Lama said.
As was pointed out in a comment on the PJ Tatler, compassion–which the Dalai Lama is known for, even to this Christian–does not always equate with pacifism:
Is it compassionate to watch a man beat his wife, or more compassionate to step in and stop the beating, with force if necessary?
One could easily add many other examples… child abuse, mugging, attempted murder… there are many times when the use of deadly force is necessary in order to show compassion to the victim.
The problem is that the modern left is sunk in a deep pit of moral relativism, where both the one initiating the violence and the victim of it are considered to be on the same moral plane, and thus it’s just as wrong–to them–to take violent action against the initiator as it is against the victim. That’s the sort of fuzzy-headed “thinking” that keeps dictators in power, because the bubble-headed left thinks it would be wrong to use force to remove them (i.e. Saddam Hussein).
IMF: “Age Of America” Almost Over
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — The International Monetary Fund has just dropped a bombshell, and nobody noticed.
For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.
And it’s a lot closer than you may think.
According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.
Well, Obama said that American exceptionalism is no different from Greek exceptionalism, so I guess now he’s wanting us to follow the path Greece did… once a world power, now… well, to be brutally honest… not so much.
Obama Authorizes Secret US Support For Libyan Rebels
And speaking of the so-called most transparent administration:
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential “finding”, within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter.
If you want to know why this is such a big deal, just replace “Barack Obama” with “George Bush,” and appropriate changes to change Libya to Iraq wherever possible, and then imagine what the reaction of the lefties would be.
Double standard, anyone?
Your Feel-Good Japanese Story For Today
Some US Navy personnel surprised some Japanese with some unexpected food and water supplies.
From the size of the shipment, I’d say this is something these sailors scrounged together and delivered on their own, not part of any organized US effort. All the same, these sailors deserve both our thanks and that of the Japanese people who received it.
Brian Preston offers some more insights:
You’ll see an older Japanese man a little ways into the clip, speaking to the camera. What he says is, essentially, that the townspeople had no idea the Americans were coming or bringing them anything. There was no announcement or anything about it. Which is true. Between the destroyed roads and the radiation fears, hardly anyone can even get to the Sendai area. But these US pilots did.
You’ll also see, near the end of the clip, a group of older men watching as the Navy man stacks boxes of supplies from the helicopter on the tarmac. They’re standing still watching him because they’re stunned. That plus the language barrier puts them in a position where they just don’t know what to do. But you can see one of them making little gestures with his hands, as if in prayer. That’s a sign of very deep respect and gratitude.
If you want to donate yourself to help these people out, I again recommend Samaritan’s Purse. Yes, they’re a Christian organization, but that certainly hasn’t stopped them from helping these mostly Buddhist and Shinto people who desperately need all the help they can get.