Global Warming = Hooker Shortage

Bulgarian brothels appear to be running out of employees. The owners are blaming global warming.

No, really, they are.

They claim their best girls are working in ski resorts because a lack of snow has forced tourists to seek other pleasures.

Petra Nestorova, who runs an escort agency in Sofia, said: 'We have hired students, but they are temps and nothing like our elite girls.'

The mind boggles. It really does. On so very many levels.

Ahem

The Senate today could not even muster a majority (Much less the 60 votes it takes to invoke cloture) to pass a "cut and run" measure on a straight up vote. Apropos the previous post, I'd say that pretty well proves the point.

The Senate today rejected a binding Democratic-sponsored resolution that would have set a target date a little more than a year from now for the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Senators then approved by large margins two nonbinding resolutions that express support for the troops.

The withdrawal resolution, which under a Senate agreement needed 60 votes to pass, failed to win even a majority, with 48 senators voting in favor of it and 50 against it. The White House had threatened a veto if such a binding measure reached President Bush's desk.

They did, however, pass the non-binding resolution offered by Judd Gregg (R) of New Hampshire that prohibits cutting off funds to the troops in the field. The vote was 82-16. (They also passed a resolution by Patty Murray (D) from Washington demanding funding, training and equipment for the troops).

None of which will penetrate the anti-war absolutist's collective consciousness. Nor will it bother them that a genocidal bloodbath will inevitably occur if they get their way.

This Is Actually Kind Of Refreshing

Scott Lilly, self-identified as a lifelong liberal, takes serious aim at the one-trick pony anti-war "liberal idiots" who simply ignore the political realities and continue on in their ultimately self-defeating "strategies". I don't agree with everything he says - heck, I have a lot of completely different takes on a lot of things. But he throws some serious cold water on those who simply do not understand how the political system works. It's worth a read just for that.

Tina Richards, the mother of an Iraq war veteran, took the time and energy last week to travel from the rural Missouri Ozarks to her nation’s capital without taking the time to learn what Congress had the power to do with respect to her issue (the war) or what the political realities within Congress made it possible for opponents of the war to accomplish. Accosted by Richards and a crew of young antiwar activists in a Rayburn Office Building hallway, Obey eventually lost patience and responded in the brutally frank but thoroughly honest manner that has been his hallmark.

I have been a liberal all of my life and I would take umbrage at anyone—even my old boss—suggesting that all liberals are idiots, yet I can remember more than a few occasions when people who professed to be liberals behaved like idiots.  

As a young soldier in the early 1970s, I prayed every morning that I would not “come down on orders” for Vietnam and would not be placed in a position where I would have to shoot at people who posed no plausible threat to me or my country. I was extremely angry and frustrated with the President and Congress for not putting an end to a mindless conflict that was disrupting my life, causing the deaths of so many innocent people, and wasting resources so desperately needed for real problems facing our society at home.

But I was almost as frustrated by the mindless antics of many opposing the war who did little more than harden the resolve of the war’s supporters and dissuade those who might otherwise have become war opponents. They provided a perfect foil for Richard Nixon, who had run out of explanations to justify the continuation of the conflict. Nixon turned the debate over the “war” into a debate over the “war movement,” a bait-and-switch that helped him rally support even among people who had growing reservations about what they witnessed each night on television.  

Unfortunately for Lilly, a lot of those mindless antics are being repeated by many of the same people. (Jane Fonda, anyone?) Like I said, I disagree with a lot here, but he really takes a few people to school. He is particularly good at pointing out exactly what kind of a mess the absolutists are going to cause if they really force the issue. Cut off funds for those troops in harm's way and kiss your political prospects of ever getting elected for anything goodbye - pretty much for eternity.

Failure to pass further appropriations means a cut-off of supplies to troops in harm’s way. It means no fuel, no ammunition, and no medical supplies. As the months pass and the Congress and the President remain at an impasse, the men and women on the ground in Iraq will not only be caught between Sunni and Sh’ia militias, but also between the two branches of their own government. Such an action would actually even deprive the President of the funds needed to bring the troops home if he suddenly came to his senses and decided to do so.  

Members of Congress of both parties have overwhelmingly gone on record against such an approach. Many of the individual states and congressional districts responsible for the President’s party losing control of Congress were won by candidates who specifically promised their constituents that they would not support such a strategy.

I point to this not to drum sense into the far left - that has, frankly, no chance of success. Even if they read this blog, they do so not because they listen to me. But there are real- deadly - consequences to the anti-war absolutists approach to the war. Lilly is trying, with little chance of success, I think, to point that out before they go right over the cliff and drag the Democrats with them. But with MyDD keeping and publishing "enemies lists" of Democrats who will not support a total "cut and run right this minute" strategy, I don't think Lilly is going to sway many people. Especially because he happens to be right about the politics here.

One Man’s Confession

Is another man's propaganda. I rarely agree with pretty much anything that gets published in Slate these days. Especially since they decided they needed longer sentences and less punctuation by hiring Glenn Greenwald. But hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, right? In this case, I think Daniel Byman hits the confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed exactly right: the man is using his statement as pure-D propaganda. And he's actually doing a rather good job of it, as Byman points out.

KSM's prepared statement emphasizes what he calls "the language of war." He repeatedly argues that al-Qaida's acts, as well as his own, should be judged as a rival army or captured soldier would be judged. In doing so, he echoes a claim made by almost all modern terrorist groups: They are warriors, not murderers and criminals. KSM compares Muslim support for Osama Bin Laden with U.S. admiration for George Washington. In KSM's narrative, both fight for liberation against an oppressor.

It is through the language of war that KSM tries to justify the killing of women and children on 9/11 and in the overall jihadist struggle. He begins his justification by conceding, "I don't like to kill children," and he notes that Islam forbids it. However, because KSM sees the terrorist acts he conducted as part of a legitimate war, he compares them to U.S. military actions. The United States, he argues, has killed and arrested the children of al-Qaida leaders, including KSM's kids, while conducting a war, and al-Qaida's murders should also be judged in this context.

I'd actually recommend reading the entire thing. Byman is connected to the Brookings Institution, I've only even mentioned his work once in another context. But I really think he's nailed this one. Al Qaeda is particularly good at propaganda. It doesn't help our side in this war that the media does not recognize that, however. I've been trying - using a bit of humor - to point out the insanity of some of the media giving mythical status to al Qaeda's invincibility. Don't get me wrong - they are genuinely dangerous. But they make outrageous claims of invincibility that the press dutifully repeat verbatim. Instead they should really be looking beyond the propaganda. Al Qaeda can - and must be - beaten.

That does not mean we should go back to a pre-9/11 mindset of treating al Qaeda as a law enforcement problem. They have elected to use the language of war, as Byman points out. They should get that war they want. But they should also be treated as what they are - illegal combatants under the Geneva Conventions. Sometimes, propaganda can work against the wielder. This should be one of those times.

Miniature Marauding Malaysians Make Mischief

Malaysian police in the central region of the country have made a big - er - small series of arrests. Yes, the midget gang is behind bars. Unless they've slipped between them by now. All eight members of the miniature mafia are described as "diminutive" without going into whether they are actual midgets or not.

All the gang members, aged between 14 and 23 years, were diminutive, The Star newspaper said without saying whether they were dwarfs or just small.

Some of them who were less than 5 feet tall would be picked to squeeze through small openings into the houses they robbed in central Malaysia, The Star said.

Gang members confessed to their crimes when they were detained, according to the report.

The arrests came about after residents in a housing area alerted police after noticing the group loitering suspiciously in a field near their homes, Ampang district police chief Amer Awal was quoted as saying.

The mini-mob will likely get a short sentence. (Cue rimshot).

Your Serve

A diver in the Dominican Republic looking for some adventure got just that. He was invited to play tennis with a member of the Animal Uprising™ Aquatic Olympic Team. The whale served.

Unfortunately, the diver was the ball.

(Randy) Thornton said he was in shallow reefs called the Silver Banks, an area where divers are allowed to swim with humpback whales, on March 1.

The whales "slow down and let you catch up with them," said Thornton, the owner of a dive shop, Dive Addicts, in Draper.

But there was nothing playful about a mother who had a calf on her back.

"The calf woke up and got spooked and that startled the mother, who swished her big tail twice," Thornton said.

He was hit and his femur broke "like a twig."

No word on whether Thornton cleared the net. But he did get operated on with (we kid you not) a sledgehammer. Tennis, anyone? Dominican Republic medicine? Why are you all running away?

The Dangerous Dichotomy Of Deadly Deer

Juxtaposing two news articles together is instructive. The number of car-deer accidents in this country is skyrocketing as deer herds grow uncontrollably in many areas. The lack of predators (other than the occasional Ford or Chevy, of course) has led to an explosion in the deer population. The hunters who used to take the place of natural predators in many areas are declining in number as well. So, in places like central Massachusetts, articles like this one occur:

Deer cause 3-vehicle crash

Two drivers hospitalized, deer escape unscathed

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

STURBRIDGE— Three people were injured after a trio of deer crossing Route 49 triggered a chain-reaction accident just before 7 last night.

Officer Larry P. Bateman said Linda Maher, 52, of Langevin Street, Spencer, had slowed her southbound 2004 Dodge Caravan when she saw the deer crossing.

A 2000 Dodge Dakota truck behind her also slowed, but it was rear-ended by a third vehicle, which pushed the truck into the van. 
Christopher C. Smith, 36, of Main Street, Sturbridge, was taken by Life Flight helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus in Worcester for what appeared to be serious but not life-threatening injuries, police said.

While in other areas, like Wyoming, stories like this appear:

Agency aims to help deer
 
By JEFF GEARINO
Star-Tribune staff writer Thursday, March 15, 2007

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Terry Cleveland remembers when mule deer populations were so high around Baggs in southern Wyoming in the 1960s, hunters sometimes enjoyed a three-deer hunting season.

The management challenge for the department back then was pretty much to ensure enough deer were harvested from the huge herds that inhabited the state.

Those days, wildlife managers admit, are long gone. In the face of dwindling habitat, predation, disease, weather and other factors, it is very unlikely that the state could ever return to the mule deer numbers that existed in the middle of the last century.

But mule deer populations in Wyoming continue to be of critical importance to the state — both for the hunters and the hunter revenue that fills the coffers of businesses and the agency.

With that in mind, Game and Fish established a mule deer working group in 1998 and pledged additional resources to address the many factors affecting the state's mule deer herds.

Yes, there is a difference between the types of deer and the states are widely separated. But the folks in Wyoming might want to be careful what they wish for.

The Real Victims

The six "flying imams" who were taken off a flight in Minneapolis last November have filed a lawsuit over the matter. But the real targets of the action appear not to be the airline or the airport. The target appears to be the average people who voiced their concerns. Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune provides the details.

The imams' lawsuit, however, asserts that US Airways and the MAC acted solely out of religious and ethnic discrimination. It includes 17 separate counts.

It also rehearses a catalogue of harms allegedly suffered by the imams, including fear, depression, mental pain and financial injury. They have not only endured exhaustion, humiliation and ridicule, but also have lost sleep and developed anxiety about flying.

Their lawsuit appears to be the latest component in a national campaign to intimidate airlines and government agencies from acting prudently to ensure passenger safety. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is advising the imams, is also calling for congressional hearings and promoting federal legislation to "end racial profiling" in air travel. If the legislation passes, airport personnel who disproportionately question passengers who are Muslim or of Middle Eastern origin could be subject to sanctions.

But the most alarming aspect of the imams' suit is buried in paragraph 21 of their complaint. It describes "John Doe" defendants whose identity the imams' attorneys are still investigating. It reads: "Defendants 'John Does' were passengers … who contacted U.S. Airways to report the alleged 'suspicious' behavior of Plaintiffs' performing their prayer at the airport terminal."

The complaint goes on to state that the imams will amend the lawsuit as soon as they identify those people to include them in the suit. The real targets are the people who cannot afford to defend themselves against a well-financed group like the imams, who have the backing of CAIR. This is what a real attempt to silence others looks like, folks. This is the real goal of the imams. Those yet-to-be-named defendants are the real victims here.

And Busted!

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard have assiduously followed the search for the fictional ivory billed woodpecker. Why? We have absolutely no idea other than it gave us a chance to whip out Photoshop and have a ball. But it seems that the much ballyhooed four second video clip that has generated most of the continuing efforts to prove that the extinct bird isn't may not be of an ivory billed woodpecker at all. A new analysis of the footage indicates that it is simply a mis-identified pileated woodpecker. Now that has been the subject of much debate all along, but this new analysis, by a British scientist, may be the jolt of reality that cools the ardor of the hopeful.

Research published in the journal BMC Biology compares footage of the common pileated woodpecker with a now-famed video shot in 2004 by David Luneau in the swamps of Arkansas of what he believed to be an ivory-billed woodpecker.

Before that, there had been no confirmed sightings of ivory-bills for half a century.

Luneau's finding, which appeared in the journal Science in 2005, has been disputed by several bird experts. A new study by J. Martin Collinson of the University of Aberdeen in Britain raises even more questions.

The study compared Luneau's video with footage of the pileated woodpecker, a similar, large but common species that is also black and white with a dramatic red head.

As I have been saying all along, it would be lovely if the species was not, in fact, extinct. But the entire way this came up and became an issue stinks to high heaven. It just happened to become an issue when the Corps of Engineers wanted to start a project in the area. Then a kayaker conveniently "saw" the bird and tree-huggers got a court to block the project. Junk science, indeed. (Incidentally, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is very likely going to take a hit to its reputation if it turns out that this was a fraud all along. Just saying.)

I’m Not Dead Yet…..

The famous scene from the comedy classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, of the old man, who actually isn't dead yet, being carried out to the dead cart comes to mind when I read this column from David Broder in the Washington Post. Broder, of course, isn't exactly what you'd call a big fan of the administration or Republicans in general. But he warns the folks that are pronouncing the GOP dead that, like the old man, there's still life in the party.

Months before the first votes are cast in the campaign of 2008, some in the media are conducting last rites for the Republicans. The rush to bury the GOP is as hasty as it is premature.

The headline atop Page 1 of Tuesday's New York Times read, "GOP Voters Voice Anxieties on Party's Fate." It sounded like a death knell for the party that has held the White House for 26 of the past 38 years. But the evidence was thin.

A New York Times-CBS News poll that included 698 self-identified Republicans found that 40 percent of them thought the Democrats were likely to win the presidency in 2008, while only 12 percent of Democrats said they believed a Republican would win. That finding is hardly a surprise. A great many Democrats I know still have trouble admitting that their candidates lost to George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. They are still mentally counting votes in Florida and Ohio that they are convinced were overlooked.

The Times, not normally solicitous of Republicans' feelings, also reported widespread concern among those it interviewed "that their party had drifted from the principles of Ronald Reagan, its most popular figure of the past 50 years."

Read the rest, he points out the obvious. It is, despite the enormous acceleration of the 2008 campaign, very, very early and there is a lot that can happen between now and then. And there still is a base of GOP voters. I know the Democrats would love to figuratively knock the old man on the head, but that might not quite work out in the long run. Lots can happen.

Say It Ain’t So, Old Sod!

Good Lord. Reuters is reporting that Guinness is falling out of favor in Ireland and *shudder* wine is increasingly popular.

But the cliche of the Irish pub filled with Guinness drinkers is giving way to a different picture as new wealth, new opportunities and immigration transform tastes and drinking habits in one of Europe's fastest growing economies.

Alongside the decline of Guinness is an increasing appetite for wine, spirits, cider and imported beer.

"You'll still sell Guinness, but you'll sell the likes of wheat beers, beers from the Czech Republic, beers from Poland," said Eddy Martin, who runs the Bailey Bar.

"Beer sales are declining while the amount of wine is phenomenal. Before, people would say they wanted a white wine, now they'll say they want a Chardonnay," he said at the bar in the heart of Dublin's smartest shopping district.

Latest figures from global drinks giant Diageo, which owns Guinness, show local sales for the brand down about 7 percent in the six months to the end of December 2006 from a year before. Wine now accounts for over a fifth of alcohol drunk in Ireland.

On my son's first deployment, his flight made a stopover in Ireland at Shannon airport. He was able to visit the Guinness shop there in the airport and is very proud of the shirt he got there. Which he refuses to give to his father. (That's a hint, son).

Legislating Defeat

The Pelosi-Murtha engineered attempt to load up a supplemental spending bill for the war in Iraq with massive amounts of pork is, in and of itself, reprehensible. But the actual bill itself is much, much worse. NZ Bear has gone through the excruciating process of digging the entire thing out and publishing it in its entirety. It is an ugly little attempt to hamstring the commander-in-chief in wartime. The sad thing is, they appear to be too stupid to realize that this precedent would, with absolute certainty, come back to haunt a Democrat in the White House later. It is Congress completely overstepping its constitutional authority.

(b) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other Act may be used to deploy any unit of the Armed Forces to Iraq unless the chief of the military department concerned has certified in writing to the Committees on Appropriations and the Committees on Armed Services at least 15 days in advance of the deployment that the unit is fully mission capable.

(c) For purposes of subsection (b), the term "fully mission capable" means capable of performing assigned mission essential tasks to prescribed standards under the conditions expected in the theater of operations, consistent with the guidelines set forth in the Department of Defense readiness reporting system.

(d) The President, by certifying in writing to the Committees on Appropriations and the Committee on Armed Services that the deployment to Iraq of a unit that is not assessed fully mission capable is required for reasons of national security and by submitting along with the certification a report in classified and unclassified form detailing the particular reason or reasons why the unit's deployment is necessary despite the chief of the military department's assessment that the unit is not fully mission capable, may waive the limitation in subsection (b) on a unit-by-unit basis.

Sec. 1902 (a) Congress finds that it is Defense Department policy that Army, Army Reserve and National Guard units should not be deployed for combat beyond 365 days or that Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve units should not be deployed for combat beyond 210 days.

(b) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other Act may be obligated or expended to initiate the development of, continue the development of, or execute any order that has the effect of extending the deployment for Operation Iraqi Freedom of —

                (1) any unit of the Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard beyond 365 days; or

                (2) any unit of the Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve beyond 210 days.

(c) The limitation prescribed in subsection (b) shall not be construed to require force levels in Iraq to be decreased below the total United States force levels in Iraq prior to January 10, 2007.

This is the "slow bleed" strategy that Murtha was bragging about. (And yes, I am fully aware that a journalist coined that term. It nonetheless exactly describes what Murtha intends for the legislation to accomplish). Again, there is good reason why Congress is not given the authority to conduct war, only to authorize it, then fund it. Military decisions cannot be made by committee. There are several excellent quotes and links to others who have already commented on this post over at the Victory Caucus, I'd urge you to take a look. One thing Smash says is exactly spot-on. The language in this bill would make every unit have to ship its equipment to and back from Iraq with each rotation. That would be incredibly wasteful. My son's unit went over with essentially no equipment other than personal weapons. They married up with equipment already in theater and the equipment is being turned over to their replacements now that they are coming home. That's efficient. Murtha's slow bleed is an incredible waste of taxpayer's money.