“You think we had our own jails in Cyprus or Suez?”
Update – lots more at The Torch, sparked by the comments here.

The Boston Globe offers a shocking statistic;

Although Gaza daily requires 680,000 tons of flour to feed its population, Israel had cut this to 90 tons per day by November 2007, a reduction of 99 percent.

Martin Kramer;

You don’t need to be a math genius to figure out that if Gaza has a population of 1.5 million, as the authors also note, then 680,000 tons of flour a day come out to almost half a ton of flour per Gazan, per day.

It could be worse! “It’s a good thing the eeevil Zionists didn’t cut off the essential Stay Puft marshmallow supply.”

A reader emails, clearly moved by the tragedy of Egypt’s apartheid wall ;

Loved the picture in the Globe and Mail showing all those poor starving Gazans returning home from Egypt carrying carpets. They must know something about nutrition that the western world does not.

And what’s this –

… a supply route into Gaza controlled by Egypt, not Israel? So how can this have been Israel’s ‘brutal siege’? Hasn’t Egypt equally been laying ‘brutal siege’ to the Gazans, also enforcing upon them ‘collective punishment’ and also forcing them to live in an ‘open prison’? Or is it only the Jews who can ever be guilty of such heinous acts?

The things the CBC never told me;

As tens of thousands of Palestinians clambered back and forth between the Gaza strip and Egypt today, details emerged of the audacious operation that brought down a hated border wall and handed the Islamist group Hamas what might be its greatest propaganda coup.

Hamas, which took control of the coastal territory last June after a stand-off with Fatah, has denied that its men set off the explosions that brought down as much as two-thirds of the 12-km wall in the early hours.

But a Hamas border guard interviewed by The Times at the border today admitted that the Islamist group was responsible and had been involved for months in slicing through the heavy metal wall using oxy-acetylene cutting torches.
That meant that when the explosive charges were set off in 17 different locations after midnight last night the 40ft wall came tumbling down, leaving it lying like a broken concertina down the middle of no-man’s land as an estimated 350,000 Gazans flooded into Egypt.

Scientific “adviser” says that he has no “responsibility” for Al Gore’s errors.
And why should he? It’s a work of fiction!

Surprise:

The [US] economy added more than 1 million new jobs last year. It grew at an annual rate of between 3 percent and 4 percent. Share prices rose by over 5 percent, with tech shares up by double digits, these gains being recorded in weeks in which the financial markets are said to be in turmoil.
Exports soared, bringing down the long-standing trade deficit. In November, supposedly traumatized consumers splurged, increasing spending by the largest amount in 3½ years. Final figures for Christmas are not yet in, but my guess is that early pessimistic estimates will prove wrong.
Meanwhile, Peter Wehner and Yuval Levin point out in Commentary that crime is way down; teenage drug use, pregnancies, smoking and drinking are all on the decline; welfare reform is working, bringing down child poverty; and the divorce rate is falling.
Most important of all, unlike their counterparts in most industrialized countries, Americans have enough confidence in the future to make lots of babies. Hardly a society in the winter of its discontent, no matter what Americans are telling pollsters.

I’ve said it before – the more things change…

And enjoy the Rachel Carson bite.

Before the war;

… the zoo, located in Zawra Park, was home to more than 500 animals, officials said.
Some of the animals escaped as mortar rounds slammed into the zoo during fighting between U.S. troops and the Iraqi Republican Guard.
After the fighting subsided, many of the smaller and tamer animals, such as goats and pigs, were stolen for food. More exotic creatures, such as rare species of birds, were sold on the black market or smuggled out of the country.
The zoo reopened in July 2003, and most of the employees returned. But fewer than 100 animals remained.
“It needed medical supplies, and power generation was an issue,” said Maj. David Shoupe, a public affairs officer with the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, which includes the 15th Brigade Support Battalion.
The zoo was dependent on the city’s power supply, which meant it typically received electricity for only three hours a day.
So when the battalion assumed zoo duty in April of this year, it brought several generators to ensure the electrical supply.
Next came refurbishing of the clinic, which got new equipment, to the delight of the zoo’s 10 veterinarians.
Then, on Nov. 1, the zoo’s four bears got a new home, a large compound with natural vegetation and a more wildlife-friendly environment.
It was a dramatic change from the small cages with tile floors where they had previously been confined separately, said Wassem Sarih Ameen, the zoo’s chief veterinarian. The floors were hard on the bears’ feet, and one of the animals in particular had leg problems, he said.
“Now her health has changed,” Ameen said. “She walks better. Her legs are healing.”
This month, the support battalion unveiled a new indoor horse stable with 20 individual stalls, along with a washroom and a birthing area. Before the renovation, the horses had to share stalls in an area severely damaged by artillery fire.
Cronin, whose unit is in the process of returning to its base in Ft. Hood, Texas, said the zoo projects were being funded through a $2-million grant from the Army Commander’s Emergency Response Program. The city of Baghdad has provided about $500,000.

h/t
More – New Year’s parties at last

2,000 people attended Christmas Mass at the Mar Eliya Church in Baghdad. “The church, which is located next to a Shiite mosque, hosted their neighbors for Christmas mass as a gesture of friendship.”
Much more at the link, as well as here.

Iraq: The best story of the year

“Iraq is more peaceful in 2007 than at any time since the 2003 invasion”. Not only is this essentially correct but it is the most important story in the world this year.
By any measure, the US-led surge has been little short of a triumph. The number of American military fatalities is reduced sharply, as is the carnage of Iraqi civilians, Baghdad as a city is functioning again, oil output is above where it stood in March 2003 but at a far stronger price per barrel and, the acid test, many of those who fled to Syria and Jordan are today returning home.

Another little known fact;

Surging Bonds: Bloomberg reports that, “[Iraq’s] $2.7 billion of 5.8 percent bonds due in 2028 returned 15.2 percent since July, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. index data. Only Ecuador’s debt gained more, rising 18 percent.” Iraqi bonds were trading at 55 cents on the dollar last August, with an 11.5 percent yield. Today, they have rallied to 64 cents, bringing the yield down to 9.9 percent. U.S. money managers are saying these are the hottest bonds in the emerging market. This is a clear sign of confidence in the conduct of the war. After all, the folks swooping up this debt have money on the line. They are backing up opinions with real money. One bond manager who oversees $14 billion says, “There’s optimism the surge is starting to pay off.”

You know, it would do Jack Layton, Stephane Dion, and a few of our favourite national columnists some good to receive these links. Then, at least they can’t claim ignorance. Because ignorance is about all they’ve been displaying lately.

Gone are the days when the rich were poorer, and the poor were poorer.

Via Jules Crittenden;

Absent from media coverage of late is the fact that the central government of Iraq has reached its 2007 budget revenue target of $30.2 billion. This figure is derived from oil revenues — revenues of which the Democrats have criticized the Iraqis and President Bush for not capturing to fund the cost of the new government in Baghdad. This criticism now rings hollow.

Michael Totten;

Fallujah today is an impoverished ramshackle mess, but it’s not a war zone anymore. In 2004 it was by far the worst place in the country. It was still a hotbed of insurgent activity as recently as the first half of 2007.
“The unit we relieved was monitoring the city, watching the city,” Corporal Koch said. “We took that over from them. Then we started our push. It was a couple of months before the regular civilians got back in the city.”
“Months after you came in?” I said.
“We came in in November, on November 6th,” he said. “It took about two or three weeks altogether. The civilians stayed out of the city for another month or month and a half after that. We were still doing operations then, but it wasn’t an all out push. It was just cleaning up. It was loose ends. Weapons caches. Just basically getting this place ready for the civilians to come back in. We made sure people weren’t going into their homes while they were rigged to blow.”
Civilians were evacuated from the city before Al-Fajr began.
“When the civilians left,” I said, “did you help them leave orderly, or was it a mad scramble to get out of here?”
“They left in an orderly fashion,” he said. “Camps were set up outside the city for people who didn’t have family or relatives to go to and for people who couldn’t make the journey.”
A few civilians, though, did not make it out.
“There are people everywhere who want to ride out a crisis,” said India Company’s Captain Stewart Glenn. “Just like those people in New Orleans who stuck around for Hurricane Katrina. I’m going to ride it out, they said. So a few around here rode it out. There were, I think, six or so families that did that. We painted the word Family on the walls of their houses so they wouldn’t be confused with combatants.”
[…]
“I definitely think it was necessary,” he said. “I don’t have any regrets. I’m glad I did it, and I would do it again. It’s good to see the city the way it is and to go to the same neighborhoods. They’re so much cleaner now. These people are doing things on their own, they’re taking care of their own stuff. When I was here three years ago, I never would have imagined this place would ever be like it is now. It reminded me of Tijuana. When we got here it just seemed like everything you could think of that was bad, this city had it going on. Now they have regular families thriving in the city. There are people working neighborhood watch, working together. It has turned around a lot. I didn’t even want to come on this deployment, but now seeing the city the way it is, I’m glad I did. It’s like a closure on everything.”

Read the whole thing. Michael is supported by reader donations, so if you’re inclined to hit a tip jar today, make it his.

Here’s a detail they may have left out of your morning news. I know they left it out of mine;

New Life Church Pastor Brady Boyd is speaking to the media right now. He reports that the female church security guard rushed to the building when she heard shots ring out. She was stationed at a rotunda. She has a law enforcement background. “She probably saved a hundred lives.” They put the security/evacuation plan in place after hearing about the first church attack. Volunteers joined security details. Armed security all have licenses to carry.
Pastor Boyd: “We’re so grateful to God for giving us the wisdom to do that.”

Emphasis mine. More: When you legislate gun-free zones, only the mass murderers have guns.
h/t

People got water up their nose;

When four members of Congress met “in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody” in 2002, they were given a virtual tour of “the CIA’s overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.” One of the members of this small group? Nancy Pelosi.
Among the techniques CIA officers described to the group, and thus Pelosi, was waterboarding.

More: “Next thing you know, someone’s going to say the Clinton co-presidency thought Saddam had a nuclear program and backed regime change.”

Yesterday one of those daily “financial report” blurbettes common to talk radio advised that Canada’s job making machine was continuing to create employment, despite the economic downturn in the US. It was no more that 15 seconds later that the same analyst offered that job growth figures just released in the US exceeded expectations, along with signifcant increases in wages.
That’s pretty typical. If you were walled off in a room somewhere in Chilliwack, with only the CBC and CTV as your sources, you could be forgiven for wondering if America will ever be released from a 7 year recession;

The pessimistas are a persistent bunch. In 2006, they were certain a recession was just around the corner. They were wrong. Instead, the economy posted two consecutive quarters of near or above four-percent growth.
[…]
Here are the facts: Americans are working. The 4.7 percent unemployment number remains at an historical low. On a three-month rolling basis, the U.S. economy has added over 100,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the household job count shows that an average of 303,000 jobs have been added in the last three months. This is noteworthy because it suggests that the job market is turning around.
Hours worked are growing more than 1-percent annually, while workers’ wages are running 3.8 percent, a full percentage point ahead of inflation. As for this week’s productivity report, it was nothing short of spectacular: the 6.3 percent productivity gain was the best in four years. A rise in productivity is good for growth. It’s good for profits. And it’s good for low inflation.
Speaking of inflation, business inflation is down from 3.5 percent just over a year ago to 1.5 percent today. Meanwhile, oil prices have retreated to $88. And, to top it all off, last night we received a tremendous new number showing household net wealth has headed even higher. It stands at a record $59 trillion dollars. That’s more than seven percent above a year ago.

The more things change…

In the 1980s, there was a consensus among the members of the national media that Ronald Reagan was going to fail and that he was going to bring on economic disaster. But…the economy didn’t collapse. In fact, it soared to unprecedented levels.
The media stubbornly refused to admit that “Reaganomics” was responsible. The drumbeat of negative opposition to the president’s policies continued through the 1980s. By 1986…the ratio of negative to positive stories was seven to one. In other words, as the economy was improving, media reports on the economy were becoming increasingly negative.
One of the most common allegations in these reports was that the poor got poorer under Reagan, even though the actual number of poor declined from 14 to 13 percent during his administration, and the average income for the lowest one-fifth of Americans rose from $7,008 to $9,431.
Inflation declined 48%, from 8.9 to 4.6%. Unemployment declined 45%, from 7.5 to 5.2.%. Interest rates declined 71.9%, from 21 to 5.9%. Twenty-one million new jobs were created. The so-called “greedy ’80s” witnessed the largest peacetime economic expansion in our nation’s history, yet the media remained deaf, dumb and blind.

I’ve long maintained that most of what you hear in media about the relative strengths of our economies can be dispelled by driving from Winnipeg to Fargo.

Any day now.

So now we know who to blame for the cold snap. (See also CTV Newsnet video with Timothy Ball at link)

Are said to hang on his every word…

And the Red and the White – Canadians in the Civil War. The stuff they didn’t tell you about in high school, eh?
(h/t to reader Porter)