USAToday reports: “A scientific article that says terrorists could poison thousands of people through the milk supply — withheld at first at the government’s request — is being published despite continuing objections after the National Academy of Sciences concluded it wouldn’t help attackers.”

The study by Lawrence Wein and Yifan Liu of Stanford University discusses such questions as how terrorists could release botulinum toxin into the U.S. milk supply and what effective amounts might be.

Bruce Alberts, president of the Academy, said in an accompanying editorial that a terrorist would not learn anything useful from the article about the minimum amount of toxin to use.

However, following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, some government officials have raised concerns that by obtaining biotechnology data terrorists might be able to engineer deadlier versions of diseases.

Health and Human Services spokesman Bill Hall said Tuesday the agency still feels the material shouldn’t have been published.

“We respect the Academy’s position but we don’t agree with it,” Hall said. The “consequences could be dire and it will be HHS, and not the Academy, that will have to deal with it.”

True.

The blogosphere has plenty to say.

Hyscience reports: “Here’s MoveOn’s Same Old Tired Talking Points that they are using as a resource for moonbats to write letters that are to be sent to 1,000 newspapers.”

“As usual, it’s the same old Democratic line - attack, attack, criticize, criticize, talk gloom and doom loud enough and long enough till enough mindless moonbats believe it to affect the polls given by biased media using weighted questions - that President Bush could give a hoot less about.”

In The BullPen has liveblogging. So does Blogs for Bush.

Michelle Malkin points out that AP “reported” before the speech begun. AP headline: Bush: Bloodshed in Iraq Is ‘Worth It’ (“Sacrifice” was the actual word used by the President)

Captain Ed has a few things to say. So does Lorie Byrd.

Mark In Mexico is not surprised by it all: it’s called media bias.

The Jawa Report has more.

RELATED:
Bush on Iraq: The Sacrifices Are Worth It
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America

Video here

Text of President Bush’s speech Tuesday night at Fort Bragg, N.C., as provided by the White House:

Thank you and good evening. I am pleased to visit Fort Bragg, home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces. It is an honor to speak before you tonight.

My greatest responsibility as president is to protect the American people, and that is your calling as well. I thank you for your service, your courage and your sacrifice. I thank your families, who support you in your vital work. The soldiers and families of Fort Bragg have contributed mightily to our efforts to secure our country and promote peace. America is grateful and so is your commander in chief.

The troops here and across the world are fighting a global war on terror. This war reached our shores on September 11, 2001. The terrorists who attacked us and the terrorists we face murder in the name of a totalitarian ideology that hates freedom, rejects tolerance and despises all dissent. Their aim is to remake the Middle East in their own grim image of tyranny and oppression by toppling governments, driving us out of the region and exporting terror.

To achieve these aims, they have continued to kill in Madrid, Istanbul, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Bali and elsewhere. The terrorists believe that free societies are essentially corrupt and decadent, and with a few hard blows they can force us to retreat. They are mistaken. After September 11, I made a commitment to the American people: This nation will not wait to be attacked again. We will take the fight to the enemy. We will defend our freedom.

Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war. Many terrorists who kill innocent men, women and children on the streets of Baghdad are followers of the same murderous ideology that took the lives of our citizens in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. There is only one course of action against them: to defeat them abroad before they attack us at home. The commander in charge of coalition operations in Iraq, who is also senior commander at this base, General John Vines, put it well the other day. He said, “We either deal with terrorism and this extremism abroad, or we deal with it when it comes to us.”

Our mission in Iraq is clear. We are hunting down the terrorists. We are helping Iraqis build a free nation that is an ally in the war on terror. We are advancing freedom in the broader Middle East. We are removing a source of violence and instability and laying the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren.

(continue reading post »)

Diamonds are a girls’ best friend. Don’t bother them with petty foreign politics.

The DailyDish reports: “Teen star Lindsay Lohan strode past protestors at the opening of the first American De Beers store on Wednesday, declaring she wouldn’t get involved in any of their ‘drama.’”

The actress, 18, joined fellow stars Teri Hatcher and Vanessa Carlton to party at the diamond jewelers’ bash on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, despite the shouts of angry protestors.

Representatives from advocacy group Survival International, which claim De Beers’ diamond mining in Botswana has led to the evictions of Gana and Gwi bushmen, shouted “shame on you” and “cultural genocide” as celebrities arrived for the launch.

When asked by reporters what she thought about the bushmen controversy, Lohan replied, “I don’t get involved in any drama.”

No truer words have been spoken recently by a celebrity.

(Hattip: Reader AD, who writes: “It seems the stars can give up some of their liberalness to party every once in a while.”)

Indeed.

While normally our views and opinions are diametrically opposed to the Kos, here’s one exception in which we’re on the same side.

AP reports: “Bloggers who built their Internet followings with anti-establishment prose are now lobbying the establishment to protect their livelihoods from federal regulations.

Some are even working with lawyers, public-relations consultants and a political action committee to do it.

“I like to think of myself as just a guy with a blog, but it’s clear that ‘just a guy with a blog’ is different today than it was when I started three years ago,” said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the Web log www.DailyKos.com. “One sign of having arrived is when government regulators start wanting to poke their fingers into what you do.”

Moulitsas was to testify Tuesday at a hearing on a Federal Election Commission proposal that would extend some campaign finance rules to the Internet, including bloggers.

Moulitsas also is working with a lawyer who volunteered to help bloggers fight new government regulations and whose efforts were promoted in a PR firm press release Monday. He is prepared to lobby Congress himself if necessary.

Go get ‘em. Just don’t say: Screw ‘em.

UPDATE:
CNET reports: “Mike Krempasky, a conservative activist and contributor to the RedState.org blog, said he hopes the FEC will “ensure that no blogger, no amateur activist and no self-published pundit ever need consult with legal counsel.” The FEC’s 47-page proposed rules, which are not final, cover everything from candidate endorsements to fund-raising, bulk e-mail and paid advertisements.”

Think America has become too soft and, as a result, kids today are unable to deal with adversity and the challenges facing them in the real world?

Michelle Malkin points out: “Say goodbye to the Greatest Generation, and hello to the Pushover Generation.”

Extra credit: Definition of “namby-pamby”

nam·by-pam·by
adj.

1. Insipid and sentimental.
2. Lacking vigor or decisiveness; spineless.

RELATED:
Education Is Not Color-Blind

Be careful what color ink you use. It could hurt someone’s feelings.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and flamboyant homosexual comedian, Supervisor Tom Ammianno, have come up with a new joke.

S.F. Chronicle reports: “Newsom teamed up with Supervisor Tom Ammiano and dozens of activists to announce a proposed ordinance to bar the city government from buying products made under abusive labor conditions.”

Does San Francisco have nothing better to be concerned about? No question.

As far as we can see, plenty of homeless still on the streets and the city economy is still hurting.

“The ordinance, which Ammiano said would be introduced today in a Board of Supervisors meeting, appears to have unanimous support on the board, and Newsom and Ammiano predicted it would be quickly approved and signed into law.

“Now is the time to put our principles where our spending is,” Newsom said in a rally at San Francisco’s City Hall, pledging that the measure would get results. “Often we’re good at passing resolutions asking someone else to do something about a problem. This is an ordinance with real teeth and real enforcement.”

Sounds very righteous. Unfortunately, in every case the person picking up the bills remains the same: The taxpayer.

“San Francisco is expected to give [the Workers Rights Consortium, a monitoring group] a $50,000 annual contract to help enforce the new ordinance. But [Scott Nova, executive director of the organization] warns against high hopes.”

When it comes to the prevailing San Francisco politics, our hopes are never high.

What is it with Newsom? First, promoting homosexual weddings. Now, worrying about sweatshops in foreign countries?

“For the first year, the measure is limited to city uniforms and other clothing, which account for $6 million of the city’s annual $600 million in purchasing. The ordinance creates an advisory committee, made up largely of local anti-sweatshop activists, that would be able to widen the scope to other products.”

Two words: Grab bag.

These clauses would be “very difficult to enforce,” admitted Tom Hayden, a former state senator from Los Angeles, who appeared at Monday’s rally and who was a major backer of the ordinance.

“The key to whether this succeeds will be if other cities and states can pool their resources,” Hayden said.

Well, if Tom Hayden says so, we’ve got something: It’s called “California Dreamin’”

And what does the apparel industry have to say?

“Promoting legislation that paints an industry with a tar brush may make noise in the media and further political agendas,” said Randy Harris, executive director of San Francisco Fashion Industries, an industry lobbying group that includes firms such as Levi Strauss & Co., Byer California and Gymboree Corp. “But the mayor and Supervisor Ammiano should have done their homework before slapping our industry across the face. Rather than promote legislation of this type, if they truly cared, they should be meeting with industry leaders and learning about our industry, its history and challenges and the good work that we have done for decades.”

Good deeds are irrelevant. Activists want revolution.

AP reports: “Residents of two Bible Belt mountain counties reacted with anger and grudging acceptance after the Supreme Court upheld some public displays of the Ten Commandments — just not theirs.”

“Bible Belt?” That sounds like editorial phrasing.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that such exhibits on government property must be evaluated on a case by case basis to ensure they don’t violate the Constitution, but that southeastern Kentucky’s McCreary and Pulaski counties went too far and promoted a religious message.

“We will abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court,” said Blaine Phillips, McCreary County’s judge-executive, or top administrator. “However, we want to encourage our citizens not to give up the fight.”

Never surrender. Maybe they should follow the example of S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, and abide by their own rules.

“Both counties are among a handful in the state still in a legal fight with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky over displays that include the commandments.

The ACLU. Of course.

David Friedman, who successfully argued the ACLU’s case before the Supreme Court, said Monday’s ruling reaffirmed a core principle — “that government and religion should not become impermissibly entangled.”

Friedman said the ACLU would vigorously pursue its remaining cases.

And yet nothing is said about the U.S. government paying for Korans and accommodating daily prayers for terrorists.

(Blacks and whites united: Supporters of the Ten Commandments outside the Supreme Court)

Word of the high court’s decision was met with frustration Monday. “I’m heartbroken,” said former McCreary County Judge-Executive Jimmie Greene. “I’m devastated to be honest with you.”

Since the majority of good Americans are concerned in what direction the nation is headed, and are worried about the welfare of our children, maybe taking some “down home advice” from our family values, small town, no-one-locks-their-doors community “kin folk” is the best thing to do.

“They take prayer out of schools, they take the Ten Commandments down and they wonder what’s wrong with our society. It’s just wrong,” said Joe Kidd, who was working at a fireworks stand in Whitley City.

Amen.

RELATED:
The Supreme Court website is here
Recent opinions are here
What’s Next, “In God We Trust”?
Stop The ACLU
Did NYPD Do Enough To Save Koran?

AP reports: “Wal-Mart heir John T. Walton, who died in the crash of his experimental, ultralight aircraft, was remembered as a friendly man who threw his considerable financial support behind efforts to educate low-income children.”

Sounds like a man even liberals could embrace.

“Walton, the middle of three sons of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company’s board, was a major advocate of school vouchers, supporting efforts to create taxpayer-funded ways for students to attend private schools.”

So much for liberal love.

“Walton founded the Children’s Scholarship Fund in 1998 to provide low-income families with money to send their children to private schools. The foundation started with $67 million from the Walton Family Foundation and benefited more than 67,000 children.”

It’s the point many forget: Don’t condemn the wealthy for they’re in the position to be philanthropic. Without the rich, there would be less charitable giving.

A man of service:

“John Walton was an Army veteran who served with the Green Berets as a medic during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of several members of his unit while under enemy fire, according to the company.”

An honorable life lived.

“In March, Forbes magazine listed John Walton as No. 11 on its list of the world’s richest people with a net worth of $18.2 billion. He was tied with his younger brother, Jim, one spot behind his older brother, Rob, who is Wal-Mart chairman, and just ahead of his sister, Alice, and his mother, Helen.”

John Walton was 58.

CSM reports: “The last time he faced the prospect of electoral defeat, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder turned
President Bush’s foreign policy into a campaign rally cry, plunging German and American relations to their lowest point since the end of World War II.”

“As Mr. Schroder visits Washington Monday, he is once again politically embattled, with his weakened Social Democrats (SPD) facing an emboldened Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in early elections this September. And he will no doubt use Mr. Bush to improve his voter support. But this time, analysts say, Schroder won’t be driving the anti-Bush bandwagon he rode to victory in 2002.”

“Instead, the two-term leader is hoping his appearance with Bush will remind German voters of the greater international profile he has given his country. And he’s expected to press Germany’s case for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council - a bid the US has opposed.”

All’s fair in love and politics. But Bush should firmly remember the “Axis of Weasels,” and learn from the past.

What comes around goes around…