Here is a little early morning reading that caught my eye
Over at Riehl World View, he has a story that looks at the progress made in Iraq over the last year and a half. Progress HAS been made, and you can see it mapped out here.
…we are the strongest nation with the strongest military on the face of the Earth. That in and of itself makes surrender ridiculous. We elected these people to lead and to win, not quit because of some headlines.
I get frustrated when I read about how much money we send to other governments, with so very little return… we have to be the world’s most generous nation, but at the same time, the world’s biggest patsy. For all the real progress made in Iraq, progress with out “allies” in Pakistan is not quite so evident. Here’s a prime example, over at ABC’s The Blotter
“The U.S. has provided $5.6 billion in coalition support funds to Pakistan over the past five years, with zero accountability,” said Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-Calif., at the hearing.
“Why is Pakistan still being paid these large sums of money, even after publicly declaring that it is significantly cutting back patrols in the most important border area?” he asked.
I have to say, that is an excellent question.
…the rugged mountains of Pakistan have emerged as a safe haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban.
“They are the central front for al Qaeda,” said Seth Jones, who studies the area for the RAND Corporation, a national security think-tank. “They are the area al Qaeda has based its international and regional operations. It is a very serious threat to the U.S. security,” he said.
Pakistan continues to deny al Qaeda enjoys a safe haven in its territory.
The main point of the story is to let a Taliban leader blow hard and threaten new and more deadly attacks. Alright. What are we going to do about it?
How about a story from Washington State that illustrates once again how screwed up the whole illegal worker situation is? Check this out
…Two Eastern Washington fruit growers and the labor contractor they used to bring legal Thai workers to their farms three years ago have been ordered to pay $1.8 million to some 600 Yakima Valley farmworkers — some of them illegal immigrants — who claim they were displaced.
Let’s see, a company brings in legal, federally certified guest workers, and they lose in court because they have “displaced” the illegals? You’ve gotta be kidding me! I wonder if Senator Craig knows about this? Maybe when he quits his lawmaker gig, he can get the Idaho franchise…
And did you see that China is retaliating against the U.S. food industry? I guess they don’t like that we’ve banned the phoney toothpaste and the tainted pet food, so they’ve banned some of our poultry and pork products…no chicken feet for you. The best line of the story is this
…Beijing has taken significant steps in recent days to clean up its product safety record, including executing the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes and banning the use of a chemical found in antifreeze in the production of toothpaste.
I feel so much better now.
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