Another Border Patrol Agent Charged With Murder — With Video Of Shooting

The above video shows an illegal being shot to death by a Border Agent in California. Agent Corbett has been charged with murder for shooting another illegal who he claims was about to hit him with a rock. The video above is NOT Corbett, but is a similar case.

You can read more about it at World Net Daily.

This video does give us an idea of what Corbett has claimed happened to him.

Iraqi Police Are "Very Capable" At Law Enforcement

A little more good news out of Iraq. We often hear that the Iraqi army is improving, but isn’t quite ready to take over yet. There is a different story when we hear about the Iraqi police force. They are coming along nicely.

American Forces Press Service:

“I believe the Iraqi police are getting very capable in handling the law enforcement type mission and traffic mission. The problem you have is … that there’s a lot of terrorists and insurgents who want to see them fail,” Brig. Gen. Phillips said, speaking to online journalists from Baghdad.

He went on to say that they can function in a normal law enforcement capacity a lot better than two years ago, and they are having great success in the 75% of Iraq that is under control.

Minimum Wage Increase Being Delayed By Democrats

This was the only real piece of legislation that the Dems promised to pass if elected that actually passed. Every other promise they made has yet to come to fruition. Now the minimum wage increase is being delayed because Democrats were trying to use it to get their message across about Iraq.

AP:

Increasing the minimum wage should be easy for a Congress controlled by Democrats, especially with President Bush’s pledge of support.

But a $2.10 boost for America’s lowest-paid workers is again being delayed, this time in a tussle over whether to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Even the President has vowed to pass this legislation, but the Dems will have none of that.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., decided to attach the minimum wage provisions to the Iraq war spending bill. Normally that’s must-pass legislation. Now it’s certain to be the subject of Bush’s second veto after Democrats loaded it up with a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.

So instead of getting legislation through, that was promised to their constituents, on its own merits … the Dems decided to play political football with the minimum wage increase.

This is exactly why we need a line item veto for all presidents. They can cut through the pork and partisanship to get things accomplished. The Democrats have promised to get the increase through, and they will, but thousands of poor folks depending on that increase they were promised will now have to wait until Reid and Pelosi are done farting around with Iraq.

You can this delay to the delay of new armored vehicles getting to our troops on the front line because of the Dems antics.

Greenies Forgot To Tell Us That CFL Bulbs Can Kill Us

Not to mention cost us a lot of money.

The move to ban incandescent light bulbs, and replace them with the more eco-friendly CFL bulbs is potentially dangerous and expensive. If you’re clumsy … CFL bulbs are more expensive, and far dangerous than their counterparts. Get a load of this story.

Financial Post:

How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labour — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn’t include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.

That’s right … over two thousand dollars. That’s if you don’t get sick from the mercury poisoning.

According to an April 12 article in The Ellsworth American, Bridges had the misfortune of breaking a CFL during installation in her daughter’s bedroom: It dropped and shattered on the carpeted floor.

Aware that CFLs contain potentially hazardous substances, Bridges called her local Home Depot for advice. The store told her that the CFL contained mercury and that she should call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP sent a specialist to Bridges’ house to test for mercury contamination. The specialist found mercury levels in the bedroom in excess of six times the state’s “safe” level for mercury contamination of 300 billionths of a gram per cubic meter. The DEP specialist recommended that Bridges call an environmental cleanup firm, which reportedly gave her a “low-ball” estimate of US$2,000 to clean up the room. The room then was sealed off with plastic and Bridges began “gathering finances” to pay for the US$2,000 cleaning. Reportedly, her insurance company wouldn’t cover the cleanup costs because mercury is a pollutant.

Now this means we will need to pass legislation to require insurance companies to cover the cost of mercury cleanup which means our rates will go up. Remember, they are trying to make these CFL bulbs required in all homes. They are requiring that we take a dangerous substance (mercury) into our homes. Do you have any idea how many laws have been passed to prevent mercury poisoning in this country? Now they are going to require us to have it around?

In case you are wondering how much the true cost of her breaking this bulb was … it will take her 11 years to recoup her cost of breaking that on bulb. That is based on the numbers that a CFL bulb will save you $180 a year. Hardly more economical.

Tenet Admits Iraq Was Seeking Nuclear Weapons

I have been very amused at how Tenet has been running around criticizing the Bush administration while confirming everything they said. Of course, the lefties haven’t picked up on that yet. All they know is a Clinton guy is mad at Bush for going to war. Funny how many of them didn’t know Tenet was a Clinton guy before this week.

Tenet has also confirmed everything the administration has said, but is angry that they used his name, his evidence, and his statements to make their case. Tenet has also just confirmed what Duelfer, and every other inspector, has said about Saddam’s weapons programs.

This is a part of the 60 Minutes transcript:

• SCOTT PELLEY, CBS’ “60 MINUTES”: January ‘03, the President, again: “imagine those 19 hijackers this time armed by Saddam’s Hussein,” is that what you’re telling the President?
• GEORGE TENET: No.
• [narrating voice]
• The Vice President up the ante, claiming Saddam had nuclear weapons when the CIA was saying he didn’t.
• PELLEY: What’s happening here?
• TENET: I don’t know what’s happening here. The intelligence community’s judgemnet is he will not have a nuclear weapon until the year 2007, 2009.
• PELLEY: That’s not what the Vice President is saying.
• TENET: Well I can’t explain it.

Hotair has the video.

I actually have the CIA’s original report that clearly states that Saddam was researching nuclear weapons and may be able to build one in as little as a year, but that wasn’t the only reason for war anyway. Saddam’s numerous weapons programs (all proven to be true), and his support of terrorist groups coupled with his hundreds of attacks on US warplanes over the no-fly zones were all reasons given for the war as well. It is important to note that the original CIA report was put together under Tenet. I also haven’t heard the President say specifically that Saddam HAS nuclear weapons. I’ve heard him say on several occasions that he was pursuing them. Which has been confirmed. After all, why would Saddam need 500 tons of uranium if he wasn’t pursuing nuclear weapons?

I also got this letter from Tenet to Senator Bob Graham from Global Security.

Letter dated Oct. 7 to Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, by George J. Tenet, director of central intelligence, about decisions to declassify material related to the debate about Iraq:

In response to your letter of 4 October 2002, we have made unclassified material available to further the Senate’s forthcoming open debate on a Joint Resolution concerning Iraq. As always, our declassification efforts seek a balance between your need for unfettered debate and our need to protect sources and methods. We have also been mindful of a shared interest in not providing to Saddam a blueprint of our intelligence capabilities and shortcomings, or with insight into our expectation of how he will and will not act. The salience of such concerns is only heightened by the possibility of hostilities between the U.S. and Iraq.

These are some of the reasons why we did not include our classified judgments on Saddam’s decision-making regarding the use of weapons of mass destruction (W.M.D.) in our recent unclassified paper on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction. Viewing your request with those concerns in mind, however, we can declassify the following from the paragraphs you requested:

Baghdad for now appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or C.B.W. chemical and biological weapons against the United States.

Should Saddam conclude that a U.S.-led attack could no longer be deterred, he probably would become much less constrained in adopting terrorist actions. Such terrorism might involve conventional means, as with Iraq’s unsuccessful attempt at a terrorist offensive in 1991, or C.B.W.

Saddam might decide that the extreme step of assisting Islamist terrorists in conducting a W.M.D. attack against the United States would be his last chance to exact vengeance by taking a large number of victims with him.

Regarding the 2 October closed hearing, we can declassify the following dialogue:

Senator Levin Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan : . . . If (Saddam) didn’t feel threatened, did not feel threatened, is it likely that he would initiate an attack using a weapon of mass destruction?

Senior Intelligence Witness: . . . My judgment would be that the probability of him initiating an attack — let me put a time frame on it — in the foreseeable future, given the conditions we understand now, the likelihood I think would be low.

Senator Levin: Now if he did initiate an attack you’ve . . . indicated he would probably attempt clandestine attacks against us . . . But what about his use of weapons of mass destruction? If we initiate an attack and he thought he was in extremis or otherwise, what’s the likelihood in response to our attack that he would use chemical or biological weapons?

Senior Intelligence Witness: Pretty high, in my view.

In the above dialogue, the witness’s qualifications — “in the foreseeable future, given the conditions we understand now” — were intended to underscore that the likelihood of Saddam using W.M.D. for blackmail, deterrence, or otherwise grows as his arsenal builds. Moreover, if Saddam used W.M.D., it would disprove his repeated denials that he has such weapons.

Regarding Senator Bayh’s Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana question of Iraqi links to al-Qa’ida. Senators could draw from the following points for unclassified discussions:

• Our understanding of the relationship between Iraq and al-Qa’ida is evolving and is based on sources of varying reliability. Some of the information we have received comes from detainees, including some of high rank.
• We have solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and al-Qa’ida going back a decade.
• Credible information indicates that Iraq and al-Qa’ida have discussed safe haven and reciprocal nonaggression.
• Since Operation Enduring Freedom, we have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al-Qa’ida members, including some that have been in Baghdad.
• We have credible reporting that al-Qa’ida leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire W.M.D. capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al-Qa’ida members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs.
• Iraq’s increasing support to extremist Palestinians coupled with growing indications of a relationship with al-Qa’ida, suggest that Baghdad’s links to terrorists will increase, even absent U.S. military action.

You’ll notice Tenet himself saying their is a distinct goal of producing WMD’s and a link to terrorists including al Qaeda.

Again … Tenet’s own words are used against him.

Gore’s "Momentous Announcement" Was That Carbon-Neutral Is A Fraud

Funny thing is he didn’t realize he said it.

Some speculated he would announce his candidacy, but that would have made no sense. To announce in Canada would have destroyed the campaign before it started.

Gore’s announcement was that Canada’s climate plan is a fraud. A lot like carbon-credits are a fraud I suppose.

There are some hilarious gems in what Gore had to say.

AP:

He also criticized the plan for allowing industries to pollute more if they use emissions-cutting technologies while increasing production.

“In my opinion, it is a complete and total fraud,” Gore said Saturday. “It is designed to mislead the Canadian people.”

This is the money shot of the piece. Gore is actually saying that not reducing emissions while using green technology is a fraud. Let me translate that for you folks. Gore is saying that the Canadian plan to make industry carbon-neutral is a scam. Just like I said earlier … like carbon-credits. It’s ok for Gore to not reduce emissions because he buys offsets, but it is not ok for businesses to do the same. Pure hypocrisy!

The Canadian plan is designed for businesses to reduce emissions with their current production by using eco-tech. It also allows businesses to increase production using eco-tech to equal their current emissions output. The idea is that businesses can’t increase their emissions to more than their current output … i.e. carbon-neutral.

The Canadians fired back.

Canadian Environment Minister John Baird rejected Gore’s criticisms.

“The fact is our plan is vastly tougher than any measures introduced by the administration of which the former vice president was a member,” Baird said in a statement.

Pwned! Not only is it tougher than Clinton’s policies, but Bush has had far more success in reducing emissions than Clinton ever did. Clinton would propose unreasonable cuts in emissions that would never pass because they were unrealistic. Clinton was never effective at any real environmental change. Bush has proposed emissions reductions that weren’t unrealistic, and were implemented.

Armored Vehicles For Iraq Delayed Because Of Congress

So much for caring about up-armed vehicles by the Democrats. They’ve been whining and complaining about the troops in Iraq not receiving the proper armor for years now. Their arguments were completely manufactured, and refuted by the troops on the ground. Now Congressional Democrats are preventing replacement armor vehicles from getting to the troops in Iraq because of their disgraceful budget bills.

Military.com:

Like most of the Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Anbar province, this one has been hit as many as three times by enemy fire and bomb blasts. Yet, to date, no American troops have died while riding in one.

But efforts to buy thousands more carriers – each costing about $1 million – could be delayed if the White House and Congress do not resolve their deadlock over a $124.2 billion war spending bill.

About $3 billion for the vehicles is tied up in the legislation. The spending plan has stalled because of a dispute over provisions that would set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

At a hearing last month, lawmakers urged the Army to get more of the carriers to the battlefront as quickly as possible. The vehicles, with their unique V-shaped hull that deflects blasts outward and away from passengers, are considered lifesavers against the No. 1 killer in Iraq – roadside bombs.

Lawmakers urged the military to get these vehicles to the front, but then refused to give the money to the troops for the new vehicles.

As the Pentagon scrapes to find the money to run the war in the midst of the budget impasse, the Pentagon says there is not enough cash to buy as many as commanders say they need.

“We can build what we can get the funds to build. It’s strictly an issue of money,” Gen. Peter Schoomaker, former Army chief of staff, told a Senate committee last month.

At the time, he said the Army had an unfunded requirement of about $2 billion. Lawmakers added some additional money to the bill, so that number would now be about $1.5 billion.

He said the Army believes “that not only do we need the MRAP immediately to give us better protection, but that we need to stay on a path to get an even better vehicle than the MRAP for the long haul, because the enemy is going to continue to adapt.”

Political football indeed.

7/7 Mastermind Captured In Iraq

This has been pretty active all day on just about every blog there is. The al Qaeda leader believed to have plotted the London bombings was captured. I’ll give you one guess as to which country they caught him entering Iraq from.

Vote Vets To Run Ad FOR Harry Reid

Recently here in Las Vegas, and probably elsewhere, radio ads have been airing attacking Reid’s attack of the war by saying “the war is lost.” Now VoteVets.org is getting in on the ad game, but they support what Reid said.

I exposed some lies the group was using to win the last election here, and received some credit for its failure in removing good people from office. Vote Vets has also been tied to groups convicted of voter fraud, and they are a Democrat party activist group headed by former Democrat presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark.

You can read my previous post on them here.

Immigrants Upset That They May Not Be Able To Get Nevada Scholorship

How selfish can you get? This story comes just a couple of days as Nevada’s legislature passed two conflicting bills. One allows illegal aliens to get the Millennium Scholarship, and the other doesn’t. Now they have to sort it out, but we know which one will win in the end.

Enter this story from our local paper …

Review Journal:

Guzman faces a problem that could make it more difficult to reach her goal: Although she is in the United States legally, she isn’t a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident.

If a bill passed by the state Senate this week is approved by the Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Jim Gibbons, she won’t be able to get a price break on CCSN tuition or receive a Millennium Scholarship.

Awwww … cry me a river. While I have absolutely no problem with this girl because she is in the US legally … the Nevada taxpayers have no obligation to pay for her college. We set up the Millennium Scholarship to help Nevada citizens go to college. This girl has applied for permanent residency, and her father has already received it. My problem isn’t necessarily with people like her.

In the RJ Wednesday officials said that no more than 94 illegals received the scholarship. They made it seem like no big deal, but that’s 94 American kids that missed out on thousands of dollars for college because some illegal got it instead.

They are making this out to be more than it is. The bill banning the scholarship to illegals, if passed, can be amended for legal residents, but it shouldn’t be. We’ve already had the scholarship fund run out a couple of times because it is given to illegals instead of Americans.