Frozen Wind

I’d Stay Away From The Sydney Zoo

Australia has, of course, surrendered to the Animal Uprising™, as we have reported several times in our thoughtful and measured way. We're good like that. But we seriously hope that there are still some people resisting the animals down under. If so, it would be a very, very wise move to stay away from the Sydney zoo. They have hungry bears there. Hungry, old bears.

Bethel and Cynthia, brown Kodiak Bear sisters whom zookeepers said are among the oldest in captivity, started their birthday at Sydney's zoo with a special breakfast of fresh, whole salmon.

The sisters, born in Colorado Springs in the United States in 1977, were tiny cubs when they moved to Australia. They have been in Sydney since 1985.

"They're old women now," said Louise Ginman, a senior carnivore zookeeper who has been looking after the bears for more than 10 years.

"Bethel and Cynthia used to be fairly excitable," she said. "They would occasionally be very impatient with us, forcefully ask for their food, now they are gentle old ladies. They hand-feed with us really nicely, now they are really a pleasure to work with, their manners are wonderful."

In our careful, reasonable and measured way we will point out that hand-feeding a Kodiak bear involves just that - hands. The huge predators are very fond of hands. They are like potato chips for bears. So unless you want to be a part of the birthday celebrations - or leave part of yourself at the party - it would be best to keep your distance.

Aren't you glad you come here for all the important information?

The Vermin Rights Party

A Dutch political party, the Party for Animals is obviously in league with the Animal Uprising™. They have forbidden the killing of mice in their parliamentary offices in the Binnerhof. It's all about the rights of vermin!

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch Party for Animals, which entered parliament for the first time last November, has forbidden the laying of poison to deal with a mouse infestation in its offices, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The party, which campaigns for animal rights and compassionate farming, will only allow humane traps in the parliament wing where its offices are housed, allowing trapped mice to be released unharmed, the daily De Telegraaf reported.

The Binnerhof, being leftover from medieval times, appears to have an ongoing problem with vermin of the rodent persuasion. So the party is exporting the problem to the rest of the Netherlands! How very nice of them. This, of course, ignores a few pertinent facts about mice.

Worldwide, rats and mice spread over 35 diseases. Rodent-borne diseases are spread directly to humans through bite wounds, consuming food or water that is contaminated with rodent feces, coming in contact with surface water contaminated with rodent urine, or through breathing in germs that may be present in rodent urine or droppings that have been stirred into the air (a process known as “aerosolization”). Diseases from rodents are also spread indirectly to humans by way of ticks, mites, and fleas that transmit the infection to humans after feeding on infected rodents. In some cases, the rodents are the reservoirs (carriers) of the diseases, while in other cases the ticks, mites, or fleas act as the disease reservoirs.

So if you visit the Party of Animals office, you may want to wear a hazmat suit. Unless you're fond of inhaling mouse urine or feces, of course. Here's a cheerful list of the diseases known to be spread directly by rodents. Here's the list of indirect transmission diseases that mice can vector to humans. Just think: they may be exporting this all over the Netherlands!

Some Hopeful Signs

It is only a beginning, and not a particularly strong one at that. Nonetheless it is the most open public support that the US has received to date from Middle Eastern Arab states. A somewhat vaguely worded resolution has been issued by eight governments working in concert with the US to condemn Iran's meddling in Iraq.

The statement was written in diplomatic jargon and did not mention Iran by name or even cite concerns about Iran's nuclear program. It warned against "destabilization" of the Persian Gulf, expressed support for the "principle of noninterference" and said it did not want Iraq to become "a battleground for regional and international powers," code for Iran and the United States.

The statement welcomed Bush's speech as expressing "a commitment by the United States" to saving Iraq, but made no mention of Bush's proposed troop buildup.

"Nine foreign ministers are meeting in Kuwait precisely to prevent Iraq from slipping into civil war," said Kuwait's foreign minister, Mohammed al-Sabah, at a news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The statement was also joined by five other Gulf Arab states — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — and Egypt and Jordan.

The meeting came as the United States deployed a second aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf region for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Rice is touring the Middle East to win support for Bush's plan and bolster what she calls a "mainstream" alliance of Arab states opposed to violent extremists such as Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.

I have been saying for quite some time that the regional nations had better start standing up to Iran's aggression or they risk being absorbed into a new Persian Empire. While the statement was pretty weak, some of the governments involved made much stronger statements after the meeting. So there is some movement on that front. Iran is exporting terror. If they succeed in their proxy war - and that is precisely what it is - only a fool would think they would stop at Iraq's borders. The appetites of tyrants are not easily sated.

Al Qaeda-Linked Terrorist Killed

A top level commander of the Philippine Abu Sayyaf terror group with ties to al Qaeda has been killed in a battle on the island of Jolo. This is considered a major blow to the terrorists; Abu Sulaiman was the planner of several high-profile attacks.

MANILA, Philippines — A top al-Qaida-linked militant, long wanted by U.S. and Philippine authorities for deadly terror attacks, has been killed in a clash with troops in a major blow to his rebel group, the military said Wednesday.

Jainal Antel Sali Jr., popularly known as Abu Sulaiman _ a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group _ was fatally shot in a fierce gunbattle Tuesday in a clash with army special forces, military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said, confirming earlier reports of the militant's death……

…..He allegedly helped plot a February 2004 bombing that triggered a ferry fire, killing 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terror attack.

He also was accused of masterminding the kidnapping of three Americans and Filipino tourists from the southeastern island of Palawan in 2001.

One of the Americans, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded. American missionary Gracia Burnham was wounded and rescued by army commandos after a year in jungle captivity, but her husband, Martin, was killed during the operation.

A pretty large victory in an almost forgotten front in the war on terror.

The War We Have

Bryan from Hot Air has just returned from Iraq and files a report that describes the situation he saw over there. He was embedded with a unit operating out of Forward Operating Base Justice. The report he files follows very closely quite a few things that my son has told me when we have had a chance to talk. It is important to read it. It discusses the realities and the mistakes made to date. I'm just going to pull one excerpt that I think is vital to understanding the situation over there.

2. Leaving Iran alone. An intelligence officer in Iraq (not at Camp Justice), used the phrase “uninterrupted flow of weapons and ammunition” when I asked him how much Iran was influencing the violence in Iraq. The fact is, Iran has been sending more and more weaponry into Iraq in the past year to 18 months, and it has been assisting the insurgents and the militias (Shia and Sunni alike) in supplying what the Army calls “explosive force projectile” IEDs. These EFP-IEDs are easily hidden and incredibly destructive, and their construction is simply beyond the ability of the warring groups within Iraq. Iranian Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard trainers have been directly assisting and training the militias as well, making them more dangerous to the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi people and to our troops. Iran must be dealt with and it must be taken out of Iraq, or Iraq will remain a violent, lethal place for our troops and its people. As long as Iranian arms and expertise get into Iraq uninterrupted, Iraq will not become stable and our troops will have to remain there in large numbers. The Iranians want Iraq to remain unstable and they want us to have to keep a large force there dealing with the insurgents, terrorists and militias, which is why the ISG’s belief that chaos in Iraq is against Iran’s interests was met with such derision by the troops in Iraq. And believe me, it was.

There is a lot more there, of course. It is worth reading it all.  Mistakes made; lethally bad reporting by the media; destructive feedback loops between the left in the West and the Iranian-backed terrorists. Much, much more. But the Iranian involvement is vital to understanding what has happened and is happening. That flow of weapons needs to be stopped.

UPDATE: Others: INDCJournal, Confederate Yankee, Townhall.com, The Jawa Report, Don Surber, Gun Toting Liberal, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Captain's Quarters, Flopping Aces,