From a shocked and dismayed Associated Press:

U.S. soldiers secure the site of a bomb attack near a Sunni mosque in Baghdad May 28, 2007.

Iraq residents rise up against al-Qaida

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writers

A battle raged in west Baghdad on Thursday after residents rose up against al-Qaida and called for U.S. military help to end random gunfire that forced people to huddle indoors and threats that kept students from final exams, a member of the district council said…

U.S. forces backed by helicopter gunships clashed with suspected al-Qaida gunmen in western Baghdad’s primarily Sunni Muslim Amariyah neighborhood in an engagement that lasted several hours, said the district councilman, who would not allow use of his name for fear of al-Qaida retribution.

Casualty figures were not immediately available and there was not immediate word from the U.S. military on the engagement.

But the councilman said the al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained.

Members of al-Qaida, who consider the district part of their so-called Islamic State of Iraq, were preventing students from attending final exams, shooting randomly and forcing residents to stay in their homes, the councilman said…

A member of the Fallujah city council, who also asked for anonymity for fear of attack by insurgents, said there were at least 20 killed and 25 injured.

The coordination of information in Fallujah was particularly difficult because the mobile telephone system has been working only sporadically…

Gosh, the headline writer is just asking to be fired.

It’s funny how seldom we are allowd to hear the truth about what most Iraqis really feel about the US presence.

From those lovers of open borders at the Washington Post:

Tuberculosis bacteria. A tuberculosis patient held under the first U.S. isolation order in more than 40 years was on his honeymoon abroad and decided to ‘run’ when he heard authorities wanted to lock him up and force treatment, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Wednesday.

Man With Rare TB Easily Eluded Safeguards

By David Brown
Thursday, May 31, 2007; Page A03

The Atlanta man with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis who sparked an international health alarm by flying to Europe and back for his wedding twice ignored requests to stay put and not travel, officials said yesterday.

He apparently also shortened his honeymoon — which included stays in both Greece and Italy — and returned home early in order to avoid the complicated procedure being put together to get him back to the United States in a way that would not expose other people to his dangerous microbe.

Those were among the details that emerged yesterday about a bizarre cat-and-mouse game that reveals both how seriously public health officials take the threat of transcontinental spread of infectious disease and how easily the safeguards can be eluded.

“There is some indication of deceitfulness on the part of the individual,” said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which was in the process of putting the patient’s name on a “no-fly list” last Thursday when it learned he was already on a plane headed for Montreal.

Knocke also said last night that investigators were looking into how the man and his wife got through U.S. customs in Champlain, N.Y., when all border crossings had been given his name and told to hold him if he appeared.

The man, now back in Georgia and undergoing treatment, provided a different version of events to an Atlanta newspaper, saying he was never explicitly told he could not travel. He could not be reached yesterday. His name and identity have not been revealed; he is said to be in his 30s…

As we know, many unfortunates south of the border have tuberculosis.

And, as we also know, it is the failure to follow through on the treatments for TB that cause it to become drug-resistant. A practice all too common among the uneducated and impoverished.

So expect to hear many more stories like this — and worse.

  Update!

But never fear. Here comes the ACLU to proclaim the (hitherto unknown) right to spread infectious diseases.

From the Associated Press:

ACLU says Maricopa County violated TB patient’s rights

05.31.2007

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit claiming Maricopa County officials have violated the rights of a quarantined tuberculosis patient for months by treating him like a criminal.

The U.S. District Court complaint filed Wednesday on behalf of Robert Daniels alleges that health officials and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have violated numerous constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The suit seeks what it calls appropriate accommodations for Daniels, rather than severe and “inhumane” jail conditions…

More “charitable” work for the public good by the taxpayer-supported ACLU.

From the Tennessean:

Thompson is in the race

He’ll step up fundraising, announce for president in July

By BRAD SCHRADE and BILL THEOBALD

Thursday, 05/31/07

Fred Thompson’s red campaign pickup truck, made famous by his successful 1994 U.S. Senate run, is ready once again to leave the driveway. This time, it’s pointed toward the White House.

The actor and former Republican Senator plans to form an exploratory committee in Tennessee, possibly as early as Friday, that will let him start raising funds for a presidential bid, longtime friend and political advisor Tom Ingram said Wednesday.

Thompson confirmed in an interview with USA Today published online Wednesday that he would seek the GOP nomination for president, setting the wheels in motion to transform the Law & Order star from a shadow campaigner into a viable candidate. An official announcement is expected around July 4, according to several published reports.

The news came one day after a Tuesday conference call with 100 fundraisers from Tennessee and across the country. The goal was for each person to raise close to $50,000.

Ingram, chief of staff for Sen. Lamar Alexander, was instrumental in helping Thompson introduce the red truck into the Senate campaign. He said Thompson has been moving toward the decision to enter the presidential race for weeks.

“He’s now doing everything he really needs to do to move that along,” Ingram said. “With an ‘if’ being preserved in there but with it becoming more unlikely every day.” …

Granted this report fails to add anything new. And this part:

An official announcement is expected around July 4, according to several published reports.

Has reportedly been denied by some of Thompson’s own people.

Still, it’s sounding more and more like a sure thing.

At the very least it will be very hard for Mr. Thompson not to run now that his local paper has all but made it official.

From those champions of the fair elections at the Associated Press:

Supporters of Thailand’s Thai Rak Thai party listen to the court verdict at the party’s headquarters in Bangkok.

Thai Court Disbands Party of Ex-Premier

By Ambika Ahuja
Thursday, May 31, 2007; A15

BANGKOK, May 30 — A court disbanded the political party of Thailand’s ousted prime minister Wednesday, barring him and 110 party executives from politics for five years for violating election laws.

The ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal followed a guilty verdict against the Thai Rak Thai party for financing obscure parties to run against it last year to get around election turnout rules. The court also disbanded three smaller parties, two of them hired by Thai Rak Thai.

The ban is a stunning end for a party that two years ago was the most powerful in Thailand. Its demise began after the military overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September. The bloodless coup followed demonstrations by tens of thousands of people demanding Thaksin’s resignation and accusing him of corruption…

The tribunal’s decision, which cannot be appealed, was greeted with shock and tears at Thai Rak Thai headquarters, where hundreds watched the proceedings on television. Party leaders, however, urged supporters not to protest.

“We want to insist that we will not protest the ruling,” Thai Rak Thai leader Chaturon Chaisaeng told reporters. “We know you are confused, some are disappointed. But we ask you to be patient and be prudent. As long as people have faith and belief in our party platforms, there will be a way out.”

Before the ruling, Thaksin had also appealed for calm from exile in London. “We have to respect the rules of the game. That is, the rule of the law,” he said…

The “rule of law”? One wonders.

One also wonders how popular the military coup is now. If it ever was.

How many more parties have to be banned before they can get on with those long promised open and free elections?

From those defenders of the faith at the Associated Press:

Residents gather near a burnt vehicle after an air strike by U.S. forces in Baghdad’s Sadr City May 31, 2007. In a statement, the U.S. military said they arrested two suspected insurgents during a raid on Thursday in Sadr City.

25 killed in suicide bombing in Fallujah

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber hit a police recruiting center in Fallujah on Thursday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 50, police said. U.S. forces backed by helicopter gunships clashed with suspected al-Qaida gunmen in western Baghdad in an engagement that lasted several hours.

At least 10 policemen were among the dead in the Fallujah attack, which occurred about 11 a.m., according to a police official in the city who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information…

Police said the bomber detonated his explosives vest at the third of four checkpoints as he stood among recruits who were lining up to apply for jobs on the force. The center had only been opened on Saturday in a primary school in eastern Fallujah.

The U.S. military and Iraqi army and police were running the center along with members of Anbar Salvation Council, a loose grouping of Sunni tribes that have banded together to fight al-Qaida…

(Note the photograph that the wire services are running with this story.)

Mind you, it was only exaclty seven days ago that a Muslim terrorist blew himself up next to a Muslim funeral procession in “restive” Fallujah, killing at least 26 Muslims:

Medics tend a child at a hospital in Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, May 24, 2007.

Another day, another gift from the religion of peace to its fellow practitioners. 

From those lovers of thuggish Communist dictators at the Washington Post:

Bush Reaches to Putin as Relations Continue to Slide

By Peter Baker and Peter Finn
Thursday, May 31, 2007; Page A01

President Bush yesterday launched a high-stakes effort to repair the dramatically deteriorating U.S. relationship with Russia by inviting President Vladimir Putin to visit the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, after weeks of rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War.

The White House has grown increasingly alarmed lately with the harsh tone coming out of Moscow and its hardening positions on issues that include Iran’s nuclear program, Kosovo statehood and missile defense. Administration officials said privately that the situation has reached a crisis stage and needs to be reversed before it gets worse.

Although the president’s aides do not expect to resolve the stickiest issues dividing the two sides during the visit to the Bush family retreat on the rocky Maine coast July 1-2, they hope the relaxed setting will restore U.S.-Russian relations to a more constructive footing. In more than six years as president, Bush has never asked any foreign leader to join him at his parents’ seaside home until now, and aides hope Putin will be impressed with the show of intimacy…

The two sides are at loggerheads over several contentious issues. Bush wants Russia to do more to press Iran to give up its nuclear program, while Moscow objects to U.S.-backed independence for Kosovo, the U.N.-administered southern province of Serbia. Most combustible has been the U.S. plan to deploy missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, a move Russia sees as an unjustified provocation in its backyard.

The Bush administration may have misjudged how much the missile defense plan would rile the Kremlin. U.S. officials have been shocked by the tenor of the Russian response. Putin recently appeared to compare U.S. policy to that of the Third Reich and suspended compliance with a major arms-control treaty to protest the missile defense. Just this week, he accused the United States of turning Europe into a “powder keg,” and his government announced it has tested a new multiple-warhead missile that could penetrate any U.S. anti-missile shield.

Anti-American rhetoric has become a staple of Kremlin-controlled television and many Russian political speeches, a reflection according to analysts of both genuine grievances and a desire to assert Russia’s revival as a world power under Putin. The Kremlin views Western lecturing on democracy in Russia as an attempt to derail Putin’s carefully orchestrated succession plans…

Exactly who is to blame for the “sliding” of US and Russian?

Mr. Putin is a tyrannical thug who is reverting to type (if he ever left it). The US has bent over backwards to ignore that fact.

Indeed, Mr. Putin has become far more belligerent since the US paved the way for their entrance into the World Trade Organization last year.

Sometimes a slap works better than a hug.

From the DNC’s house magazine Newsweek:

Was She or Wasn’t She?

Arguing that Libby deserves jail time, Fitzgerald says Plame was a covert agent.

By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball

May 29, 2007 – In new court filings, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has finally resolved one of the most disputed issues at the core of the long-running CIA leak controversy: Valerie Plame Wilson, he asserts, was a “covert” CIA officer who repeatedly traveled overseas using a “cover identity” in order to disguise her relationship with the agency.

Fitzgerald cites Wilson’s covert status as part of his argument—advanced in two strongly worded memos filed in recent days—that I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, should be sentenced to up to three years in prison…

“It was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute”—the Intelligence Identities Act—“as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press,” Fitzgerald wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed late last Friday night…

In the “unclassified summary” of his memorandum which was based on information cleared by the CIA and became publicly available Tuesday, Fitzgerald provided new details about Wilson’s previously classified activities at the agency. In January 2002, she was working for the agency “as an operations officer” in the Directorate of Operations’s Counterproliferation Division (CPD) and serving as “chief” of a unit with responsibility for weapons-proliferation issues related to Iraq. In that capacity, he added, she traveled overseas in an undercover capacity.

“She traveled at least seven times to more than 10 countries,” the document states. “When traveling overseas, Ms. Wilson always traveled under a cover identity … At the time of the initial unauthorized disclosure in the media of Ms. Wilson’s employment relationship with the CIA on 14 July 2003, Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for whom the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States.” …

One thing that is painfully clear is that Fitzgerald is a liar. Another thing that is also clear is that Newsweek will never stop carrying water for the Plames. (Note how Fizgerald gave this to “Spikey” Isikoff as an “exclusive.”)

If Ms. Plame had been qualified under the Intelligence Identities [Protection] Act, Fitzgerald should have prosecuted Richard Armitage and whoever else leaked her information.

But he didn’t because she wasn’t covert in the sense of the meaning of the IIPA. And up until now Fitzgerald has been careful to avoid claiming she was. But his bizarre vindictive nature and need to score a scalp for his DNC masters has gotten the better of him.

In January 2002, she was working for the agency “as an operations officer” in the Directorate of Operations’s Counterproliferation Division (CPD) and serving as “chief” of a unit with responsibility for weapons-proliferation issues related to Iraq. In that capacity, he added, she traveled overseas in an undercover capacity.

“She traveled at least seven times to more than 10 countries,” the document states. “When traveling overseas, Ms. Wilson always traveled under a cover identity …

Even if this is true (and the 2002 date is awfully convenient since it just barely fits the five year limit), there is no indication that Plame’s cover was non-official (NOC).

Besides, the act was designed to protect those living and working overseas full time. (Cf. Richard Welch.) Not “managers” just popping in for a quick visit.

But more importantly, if Fitzgerald has known this all along why didn’t he at least bring this up during Mr. Libby’s trial, where it could have been vetted by the defense lawyers?

No, given Mr. Fitzgerald’s history of shaving the truth with ambiguous if not outright misleading verbiage, it is more likely that it is all a lie merely designed to get Mr. Libby a longer sentence.

For Patrick Fitzgerald if far more of a liar and partisan hack than Mr. Libby ever was. This case has become a personal jihad for him.

Too bad the judge, (who seems to be of very limited abilities) will probably fall for this vicious deceit.

From Syria’s own one party media, SANA:

Speaker announces Dr. Bashar al-Assad as President of Syria for a new term

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Speaker of the People’s Assembly on Tuesday officially announced Dr. Bashar al-Assad as the President of Syrian Arab Republic for a new 7-year constitutional term.

The people’s Assembly held today a session for declaring al-Assad as the President of the country following final results of the popular referendum in which the President won 97.62 of votes.

And of course the people showed their joy in a spontaneous demonstration:

President al-Assad greets people who expressed feelings of joy on re-election

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian people on Tuesday marched the streets of Damascus expressing joy, happiness and showing amity to President Bashar al-Assad on re-electing him for a new seven-year constitutional term.

The march of amity toured the capital streets into al-Maliki Square passing through the presidential palace at al-Rawda where they cheered President al-Assad and showed the deepness of relation between the leader and citizens.

President al-Assad greeted the people who marched near the palace, exchanging amity and stressing the strong ties between the citizens and the leader who assumed responsibilities of the nation.

Syrian people filled the streets and squares today with joy, showing support to the President’s national comprehensive program, the courage of stances, the originality of interaction between the leader and citizens who voted for Syria’s national options.

“Under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad, people are going to draw the brilliant future on the economic, political and culture levels in the face of the most difficult challenges the region is passing through,” one of the citizens said.

Understandably, they will brook no doubts about the outcome of this unquestionably fair election:

A Foreign Ministry Source Expresses Surprise over the US. Spokesman Loss of Capability to See What really Happened in Syria

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Damascus, (SANA) – Commenting on what was said on behalf of the US. State Department on the Syrian popular unanimity on renewing the term for President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian Foreign Ministry source on Wednesday expressed surprise over the US. spokesman’s loss of capability to see what happened in Syria of the national popular unanimity on the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad , and of the true expression of the Syrian national unity manifested by the Syrians in Syria and in countries of immigration.

The same source expressed regret for the missing of diplomatic language shown by the US. State Department and said : “My advise to those is to keep their comments to themselves, to abstain from interfering in the affairs of others, and to focus on dealing with the problems they have already made their country involved with, such as the wrong war in Iraq and in other parts of the world.["]

The source wondered whether the democracy which they accept is only the one that yields results in favor of those they favored, or that which leads to making decisions and taking stances far from their people’s interests.

Of course Nancy Pelosi understood.

She was probably one of the first to send Mr. Assad congratulations on his stunning “mandate.”

From those celebrants of the gorgeous mosaic at ABC News:

Boos for Miss USA Aimed at U.S. Lawmakers

Heckling Rachel Smith Was a Reaction to the Proposed Immigration Legislation

May 30, 2007 — Hey, Miss USA: Don’t take it personally.

Miss Universe officials and observers say the Mexico City audience’s incessant booing of Miss USA Rachel Smith during Monday night’s pageant was not personal. Instead, they say it was a sign of the increasingly tense relationship between the United States and Mexico at a time when the immigration debate is hot.

The boos started as soon as Smith stepped forward for the interview round. And it continued, along with chants of “Mexico,” as Smith launched into a history of her volunteer work in South Africa.

“I don’t think they are booing because of Rachel,” said Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe pageant. “They are booing because of the immigration policy.”

The tensions were evident in 2004 and ‘05, when Mexicans booed during the national anthem at a soccer game against the United States, some even chanting “Osama.”

Resentment has grown since then, as the United States sent the National Guard to help beef up border security and build a wall to keep immigrants out. Many Mexicans are also anxious about the new immigration bill which they fear would split Mexican parents from their American-born children.

“People in Mexico get a flavor of that debate and it’s irking them, and I think what occurred is indicative of what happened in the manner and tone of Congress in the debate,” said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association.

Some Mexicans feel that the United States uses its power to get its way in world politics and also in competitions such as the Miss Universe pageant, Lopez said. They were upset that Miss Mexico didn’t make it to the final five and Miss USA did, even though she slipped and fell during the evening gown competition.

Smith has not commented on the story. It was a tough night overall for Miss USA: She failed to capture the crown after falling.

However, Smith is being credited for grace under fire during the boos, which she managed to partly turn into cheers by addressing the crowd in Spanish.

So the Mexicans in the audience have all read the 700 plus pages of the new amnesty bill?

Still, it’s enlightening to see that ABC News can read minds. Though they really shouldn’t try to re-write history:

The tensions were evident in 2004 and ‘05, when Mexicans booed during the national anthem at a soccer game against the United States, some even chanting “Osama.”

What immigration legislation were our good neighbors to the south protesting in 2004 and 2005?

Let’s face it. Many Mexicans simply seem to hate the US. And yet they insist on coming here in droves. Why is that?

One suspects that like their sponsors in the America-hating Democrat Party they want to change the country from what it is into what they want it to be.

Which is why the Democrats want as many incentives to be offered to illegal aliens as possible to come here. And once they are here, they want them to be immediately be given the vote.

(Of course this offer only applies to traditionally anti-American illegal aliens who have no desire to assimilate. Europeans or others who might actually want to preserve the US are not so welcome.)

However, Smith is being credited for grace under fire during the boos, which she managed to partly turn into cheers by addressing the crowd in Spanish.

Maybe if we all start speaking Spanish the Mexicans will like us more.

Right, ABC?

From those lovers of diplomacy at BBC NEWS:

Iran links Iraq and nuclear issue

A senior Iranian official has said that direct Iran-US talks about security in Iraq will have an impact on the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the talks on Iraq could not be separated from the nuclear issue…

While much of the hardline media in Iran has been playing down the importance of the talks with America, Mr Larijani said the talks were obviously not a tiny event in the region or the world.

“We have said the nuclear issue and the Iraq talks are two different things but in the political world you cannot really separate them,” Mr Larijani said…

Mr Larijani said if the Americans acted prudently they could benefit from Iran’s proposals on Iraq, but if they made a huge noise in the media than nothing would be achieved.

Mr Larijani was speaking at the airport on his way to Spain for talks with the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, to see if there is any room for fresh negotiations on the nuclear issue.

Mr Larijani ruled out suspension of enrichment – a key demand of the United Nations – as a precondition for negotiations.

He also insisted that suspension of enrichment was not a solution to the nuclear issue…

Ever notice how when the administration follows the advice of the Democrat opposition (and our one party media) the result is disastrous?

What good has “talking with Iran” done?

From those defenders of the rule of law at Reuters:

Rights group sues Boeing unit over CIA transfers

Wed May 30, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The American Civil Liberties Union said on Wednesday it is suing a unit of plane maker and defense contractor Boeing Co. for providing flight services to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as it secretly flew abducted foreigners to overseas prisons where they were held and interrogated.

The rights group said it would file a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California later on Wednesday on behalf of three people it said had been abducted by the CIA.

How hilarious. But note how Reuters insists on calling this anti-American communist front organization a “rights group.”

Were any of the three people who claim to have been “abducted” American citizens? Of course not. So exactly what American civil liberties were involved?

Of course the only right the ACLU is concerned about is its (self-proclaimed) right to destroy our country via its legal system.

The Nazi Party did exactly the same thing via the courts in their relentless attacks upon the Weimar Republic. And the similarities don’t end there.

Always remember that we are supporting this 501c3 “charity” with our taxpayer dollars.

From those lovers of open borders at the Washington Post:

President Bush greets trainees for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agency at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga.

Bush Chides GOP Critics of Immigration Plan

President Says Opponents ‘Haven’t Read the Bill’ and Are Trying to Frighten Americans
By Peter Baker

Wednesday, May 30, 2007; Page A01

GLYNCO, Ga., May 29 — President Bush lashed out at critics within his own party Tuesday, accusing Republican opponents of distorting the immigration deal he negotiated with leading congressional Democrats and playing on the politics of fear to undermine public support.

In stern tones normally reserved for the liberal opposition, Bush said conservatives fighting the immigration proposal “haven’t read the bill” and oppose it in some cases because “it might make somebody else look good.” Their “empty political rhetoric,” he said, threatens to thwart what he called the last, best chance to fix an immigration system that all sides agree is broken.

“If you want to kill the bill, if you don’t want to do what’s right for America, you can pick out one little aspect out of it,” he told thousands of trainees at a federal center here that prepares Border Patrol officers. “You can use it to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all, so the people who wear the uniform in this crowd can do the job we expect them to do.”

The president’s rhetoric underscored the bitter crossfire among Republicans over immigration and the enormous challenge Bush faces in trying to rally his party behind what may be the most significant domestic initiative left in his presidency. The White House has been pressing conservatives to fall in line, sending emissaries to meet with lawmakers and activists, but many on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail have ignored the administration’s pleadings and rushed to denounce the deal…

Has anyone read the rull 700 plus page bill? Except for maybe some of its primary authors, such as the folks at La Raza. I doubt if Mr. Bush has. 

Note that he doesn’t say which specific parts people are getting so wrong.

As a public service here are both an HTML version and a pdf version of the “Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,” for those uninformed reactionaries who haven’t yet read it from cover to cover.

From those devotees to Gaia at Reuters:

Merkel, Pelosi say world should unite on climate

By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN (Reuters) – Climate change is a global problem that requires unity and “multilateral” agreements if it is to be defeated, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting a Group of Eight (G8) summit in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm next week, but has so far failed to convince President George W. Bush to sign up to firm targets to combat global warming.

Pelosi is in Germany as part of a European tour to highlight congressional concern about climate change.

“I emphasized that we are of the opinion that we need multilateral agreements in the future if we are to combat this global challenge on a global level,” Merkel told reporters after meeting Pelosi and a bipartisan delegation of key House members.

Bush has been blocking an emerging consensus within the G8 in favor of firm targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

Pelosi, the leader of the opposition Democrats which gained control of both houses of Congress last November, made it clear that she was siding with Merkel against Bush.

“I completely associate myself with the chancellor’s comments that these solutions must be multilateral,” she said…

How many Presidents do we have? Who knew that Representatives could make international treaties?

By the way, since Europe is so omnicient about Global Warming, maybe we should follow their lead on immigration as well.

From the collectivists at the DNC’s Associated Press:

Clinton promotes shared responsibility

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer

Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

The Democratic senator said what the Bush administration touts as an “ownership society” really is an “on your own” society that has widened the gap between rich and poor.

“I prefer a ‘we’re all in it together’ society,” she said. “I believe our government can once again work for all Americans. It can promote the great American tradition of opportunity for all and special privileges for none.”

That means pairing growth with fairness, she said, to ensure that the middle-class succeeds in the global economy, not just corporate CEOs.

“There is no greater force for economic growth than free markets. But markets work best with rules that promote our values, protect our workers and give all people a chance to succeed,” she said. “Fairness doesn’t just happen. It requires the right government policies.” …

Why doesn’t Ms. Clinton just tell the rest of us how to turn $1,000 into $100,000 overnight by speculating in cattle futures?

From those lovers of crazy theocratic dictatorships at Reuters:

Iran charges three U.S.-Iranian citizens with spying

By Hossein Jaseb

Iran has charged three Iranian-Americans with spying, officials said on Tuesday, just a day after Washington and Tehran held their most high-profile talks in nearly 30 years.

Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, the charge could carry the death sentence. Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said the three were academic Haleh Esfandiari, social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh and journalist Parnaz Azima…

Tehran accuses Washington of using intellectuals and others inside the country to undermine the Islamic Republic through what it calls “velvet revolution.” The United States has dismissed the accusation.

Iran has arrested, detained or prevented a number of U.S.-Iranian citizens from leaving the country, including Esfandiari, director of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars’ Middle East program.

The United States has condemned the arrest of Esfandiari, detained on May 8 and accused of acting against national security and spying.

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey on Tuesday repeated U.S. calls for the release of the three and said Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, still had not had access to them.

“These are individuals that have family ties to Iran (and) have done independent research and other kinds of civil society activities there for many years. They certainly pose no threat or challenge to the regime … ,” Casey said in Washington…

The New York-based Open Society Institute said last week the social scientist and urban planner had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran on or about May 11… 

You see how much better things are now between our two countries, now that we have sat down and “negotiated” with Iran?

The New York-based Open Society Institute said last week the social scientist and urban planner had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran on or about May 11… 

Iran doesn’t know much about the current events, if they think George Soros would be spying for the US.

It’s far more likely these people were agitating against the US. Or perhaps they were pretending to be spies to cause trouble.

Either way, it’s certain they were up to no good. And now we have to bail them out.