“I thought a “housing crisis” was when people couldn’t find housing, not when it got cheaper.”
Bhutto Assassinated
Another giant step forward for the religion of detonation;
An attack on a political rally killed the Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto near the capital, Islamabad, Thursday. Witnesses said Ms. Bhutto was fired upon before the blast, and an official from her party said Ms. Bhutto was further injured by the explosion, which was apparently caused by a suicide attacker.
At least a dozen more people were killed. “At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms. Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack, according to The Associated Press.
Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the rally, which was being held at Liaqut Bagh, a park that is a common venue for political rallies and speeches, in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to the capital.
Amid the confusion after the explosion, the site was littered with pools of blood. Shoes and caps of party workers were lying on the asphalt, and shards of glass were strewn about the ground.
Ed Morrissey notes another four were killed at a rally for Nawaz Sharif in Rawalpindi. “It looks as though the radical Islamists made their statement today.”
Related: Radical Believers: Abortion doctors are dropping like fly – In a statistics-free report, National Post writer Adrian Humphreys offers that Muslims are “linked” to the Sept. 11 attacks “and other acts of terrorism”.
More – Her list of enemies has a common pedigree, with the usual suspects now taking credit.
Final word;
Since her last spell in power, Pakistan has changed, profoundly. Its sovereignty is meaningless in increasingly significant chunks of its territory, and, within the portions Musharraf is just about holding together, to an ever more radicalized generation of young Muslim men Miss Bhutto was entirely unacceptable as the leader of their nation. “Everyone’s an expert on Pakistan, a faraway country of which we know everything,” I wrote last month. “It seems to me a certain humility is appropriate.” The State Department geniuses thought they had it all figured out. They’d arranged a shotgun marriage between the Bhutto and Sharif factions as a “united” “democratic” “movement” and were pushing Musharraf to reach a deal with them. That’s what diplomats do: They find guys in suits and get ’em round a table. But none of those representatives represents the rapidly evolving reality of Pakistan. Miss Bhutto could never have been a viable leader of a post-Musharraf settlement, and the delusion that she could have been sent her to her death. Earlier this year, I had an argument with an old (infidel) boyfriend of Benazir’s, who swatted my concerns aside with the sweeping claim that “the whole of the western world” was behind her. On the streets of Islamabad, that and a dime’ll get you a cup of coffee.
Reader Tips
Tips thread open.
Seven Year American Recession Watch Remains On High Alert
Investors now have to gauge not only the reality of economic data, but its predictable willful misrepresentation by the press. We therefore have to speculate not only on underlying conditions, but on the effectiveness of the effort to scupper Main Street confidence.
More – “The prophets of recessionary doom, such as former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, Republican adviser Martin Feldstein, ex-Democratic Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and bond-maven Bill Gross have been proven wrong once again.”
Christmas Mass in Iraq
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.
Reader Tips
… have hunted down and slaughtered violent Islamic fanatics by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan to the point that they are literally bleeding the Islamo-fascist movement to death and running them out of Iraq on a rail – yet ABC News’ website has a feature story on how American troops – who have taken minuscule casualties by comparison – are hunted and ambushed…
The Undernews.
Justin Trudeau’s flip flop on Quebec.
A dog owner takes on China’s web censors.
Farmland expropriation in Manitoba: not just for bridges and highways anymore…
Add yours in the comments.
Y2Kyoto: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
What heresy is this? Haven’t we been told that the science of global warming is settled beyond doubt and that all that’s left to the so-called sceptics is the odd errant glacier that refuses to melt?
Aren’t we told that if we don’t act now rising temperatures will render most of the surface of the Earth uninhabitable within our lifetimes? But as we digest these apocalyptic comments, read the recent IPCC’s Synthesis report that says climate change could become irreversible. Witness the drama at Bali as news emerges that something is not quite right in the global warming camp.
With only few days remaining in 2007, the indications are the global temperature for this year is the same as that for 2006 – there has been no warming over the 12 months.
But is this just a blip in the ever upward trend you may ask?
Is Christianity the Problem?
Merry Christmas, Everyone
Christmas Greeting from the Prime Minister.
Christmas in Kandahar You can pass along your own greetings at this CF message board.
Update: “Defence Minister Peter MacKay served up turkey and tourtière to the Canadian troops in Afghanistan on Christmas Day,”
Return to Bethlehem.
Reagan’s Christmas message from 1981.
There’s one at every party. “Peace on Earth, Ill Will Towards Men.”
Add your own Christmas related links or messages in the comments.
The Would-Be Commandress In Chief
Weather Is The New News
CTV National News for Dec.23, with Sandie Rinaldo:
Lead story: Jed Kahane – weather report from Montreal (melting), New Brunswick (icy), Toronto (wet).
Followed by: David Akin, weather reporting from Amarillo, TX (storm), Kansas (ice). Chicago (flight delay).
Third Story: Anchor Sandie Rinaldo – weather reporting from London (fog) and Hanover (ice), including “dozens of fender benders”.
Perhaps we ought to start a collection and send them all a calendar.
From the comments
I was in the car this afternoon and heard the 2 o’clock news on AM 640 in Toronto.
The lead story: Marco Pierre White, one of Gordon Ramsay’s mentors, says that frozen vegetables are better than fresh, and science seems to back him up.
The second story: Oscar Peterson has died.
Now I’m no jazz fan, but even I recognize that Peterson’s passing is HUGE news, whereas the veggies … not so much.
It sounds a little like the 650 CKOM Saskatoon news this morning – where they are still leading with the story of a police shooting that happened two days ago.
Reader Tips
(In keeping with the demands of the season, activity here will be slow over the next few days.)
Tips in the comments.
And thanks to all of you for the kind notes in the comments (as well as cards sent and tip jar donations!). Merry Christmas to you all, as well, and thanks for the tips and insights you’ve provided over the past year.
My Editor Hates Me
“The written word, condensed, fractured and often discombobulated by cyberspace, is unique. It knits together disparate ideas and provides a backdrop for coherent reflection and discussion.” *
Reader Tips
Share yours in the comments.
They’ll Join Hands And Cross The Finish Line Together
Xenophobia Watch
In the spirit of Christm the Holidays, I pass along this tip for the Intolerance Busters of the Canadian left;
Aaron Ekman over at the Pacific Tribune Blog has posted a disturbing video of a semi driver ramming a picketer on the line on strike at Sun Rype in Kelowna, B.C. (The Semi has a Saskatchewan licence plate and “Regina, Sask.” on the door)
[…]
Were these drivers hired under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP)?
*Gasp* Racist! Go git ‘im, boys and girls!
It’s A Quagmire
One of Al Qaeda’s senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a “catastrophe for all Muslims.”
In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.
The disclosures from Mr. Sharif, also known as Dr. Fadl and Abd al-Qadir ibn Abd al-Aziz, have already opened a rift at the highest levels of Al Qaeda. The group’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, a former associate of the defecting theologian in Egypt, personally mocked him last month in a video, remarking that he was unaware Egyptian prisons had fax machines. Meanwhile, leading Western analysts are saying the defection of Mr. Sharif indicates the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda.
The author of “Inside Al Qaeda,” Rohan Gunaratna said in an interview this week, “There is nothing more important than a former jihadist as important as Dr. Fadl criticizing the jihadist vanguard.” Mr. Gunaratna, who acts at times as a consultant for American and Western intelligence, described the reformed theologian as “both an ideologue and operational leader, but he was primarily an ideologue.”
An expert on Islamic terrorism with the Jamestown Foundation, Steven Ulph, also said the defection of Mr. Sharif could hemorrhage support for Al Qaeda. “The important point to make, when you have the combination of a respected ideologue, plus someone who was in the field, say these things it is more important than having a Saudi sheik that moderates his message,” he said.
May God Bless Them All
The Bali Bounce
At this very moment, Liberal Party strategists are devising a plan in which Stephane Dion will bring down the Harper government on a confidence vote, then immediately board an international flight to spend the entire election campaign at an undisclosed location.
Clinton Foundation And Laundromat
…direct donations [to the Billary Campaign], under the watchful eye of the Federal Election Commission, are mere chicken feed. The now over $500-million-rich Clinton Foundation is where the real action is.
The New York Times, which has discovered the identity of 97 donors who together gave or pledged $69 million early on, reports some of the million-dollar donors sought changes in policies and two of them were under Justice Department probes.
With the presidential election approaching, Clinton Foundation donations skyrocketed last year to $135 million, 70% more than the year before, with two-thirds of the booty from only 11 donors.
So much for Bill and Hil’s populist image.
The former president steadfastly refused to reveal the donors’ identities — including one super-rich donor giving $31.3 million.
We can certainly now see why. The $31-million-dollar man turned out to be Canadian mining mogul and founder of Lionsgate Entertainment (distributor of Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11”) Frank Giustra, who plans to give another $100 million, plus half his future earnings.
Emphasis mine.