Not to suggest it's a good idea, but to underscore the urgency of a diplomatic breakthrough, as bombing Iran is the only other option should diplomacy fail.

But that's a pretty amazing statement right there. The President of France is now more willing to discuss the necessity of bombing Iran than the left-liberal chattering classes and the Democratic Quislings.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."

...

Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and that major powers should continue their policy of incrementally increasing sanctions against Tehran while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities.

"This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," he said, adding that it was the worst crisis currently facing the world.

Posted by: Ace at 12:32 PM | Comments (19)
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Yeah, 1982, sadly. Read on.

Neat. And it even looks awesome. Even if that is not really a picture of an actual laser rifle.

More from Danger Room:

Aimed like a rifle, it would silently burn a fatal, quarter-inch-wide hole in the body of an enemy soldier up to five miles away. "Once you've got him in your sights," says a TRW engineer, "you've got him. There are no misses."

One problem with that quote, as Danger Room points out: That killer quote is from an article from 1972.

So this really isn't news at all and no hand-held lasers appear to be coming soon. The 1972 article warned that these laser sniper rifles might take "a decade" to get into the field, and I guess we all know how that went.

So why am I linking it? Well, I like the picture. And I already wrote most of this post before finding out the "new" report on the "coming" laser sniper rifle was written before I was able to speak.

The facts may not be correct, but the narrative is just too awesome.

Via Hot Air's headlines.

Posted by: Ace at 12:24 PM | Comments (22)
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Note it only seems to be an agreement to find agreement, and it is almost certainly heavily influenced by the need to appease US domestic opinion, but it's something.

President Bush on Monday applauded what he called a promising sign of political progress by Iraqi leaders who said they had found common ground on some issues standing in the way of reconciliation.

``The agreement begins to establish new power-sharing agreements, commits to supporting bottom-up security and political initiatives, and advances agreement among Iraq's leadership on several key legislative benchmarks,'' Bush said in a brief statement upon his arrival in Albuquerque.

He said the Iraqi parliament must pass legislation to put these agreements into law when it reconvenes in early September.

...

The Iraqi leaders said they agreed on some issues that the U.S. has set as benchmarks for progress, among them holding provincial elections, releasing prisoners held without charge and changing the law preventing many former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from holding government jobs and elected office.

But no details were released and committees must hash out final versions of legislation to be presented to the Iraqi parliament. Iraqi officials have announced similar deals in the past, only to have them fall apart.

Posted by: Ace at 12:08 PM | Comments (4)
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Racist mayors, take note: The key to making a Vanilla City is implementing all sorts of anti-business and nannystate measures.

Wayne Cooksey joined the flight of African-Americans from this city last year to escape soaring rents and buy a home. Michael Higgenbotham left six years ago for a safer neighborhood and better schools for his three children. Adell Adams retired and wanted to downsize but knew her home's equity wouldn't go far in a market where decent condos start at $500,000.

Aubrey Lewis was among the first to go, to nearby Oakland in 1977. "We left because of the housing situation," says Lewis, 77. "And that was early. It hasn't gotten much better."

African-Americans are abandoning this famously progressive city at a rate that has alarmed San Francisco officials, who vow to stop the exodus and develop a strategy to win blacks back to the city. In June, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed a task force to study how to reverse decades of policies — and neglect — that black leaders say have fueled the flight.

Black flight can alter a city's character. "It's important for a city's future that it be a diverse place, and San Francisco is drifting toward being an upper-middle-class city," says Ed Blakely, director of Katrina recovery for New Orleans.

According to Census estimates, the number of blacks here shrank from 13.4% of the population in 1970 to just 6.5% in 2005 — the biggest percentage decline in any major American city.

Which includes New Orleans, despite the best efforts of Karl Rove's Racist Hurricane Machine.

Gavin Newsome hates black people.

Thanks to dri.

Posted by: Ace at 12:04 PM | Comments (52)
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It's amazing that, given the fact we "know something happened," everyone involved seems to be behaving as if nothing happened except for some truly egregious railroading by cops and a rogue prosecutor.

Posted by: Ace at 11:26 AM | Comments (5)
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First the site would not allow us to post (or so we thought), and now we have six million duplicate posts. Sorry about that. I'll cut the dupes.

Posted by: Ace at 11:11 AM | Comments (20)
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But don't worry-- the oilman was anti-war since he was in bed with Saddam Hussein, and the Senator he lobbied was none other than Teddy Kennedy, so there's absolutely no story here.

See, if an oilman persuaded someone to speak in favor of the war because he hoped to get contracts in Iraq after Saddam was deposed, that would be a story. But here? A rich oilman convincing a Senator to keep Saddam in power so the oilman could continue doing business and getting rich? No story at all.

See how that works? Nuance. They get to decide what the news is. They're The Deciders.

Posted by: Ace at 10:53 AM | Comments (10)
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Harpers this time...

Bookworm Room and CY might be on to something here. This Scott Horton character certainly sounds and writes like a certified foaming at the mouth moonbat...and we all know how dedicated THEY are to 100% factual reporting and multiple layers of fact checking.

That Horton hasn't responded to Bob's request for the specifics of the story Horton claims was bogus isn't incriminating per-se, but it does suggest that Horton isn't exactly interested in seeing his own claims examined by any 3rd parties...3rd parties known to be rather tenacious in their approach.

This is all very speculative at this point of course, but that pile of oily rags in the corner does seem to have some smoke wafting out of it. Horton supplying the specifics of the claimed bogus story about a placid Haifa street would certainly clear things up chop chop and allow researchers to locate any units in the area on the day in question, get with the PAO's and see if Horton's claims of a day long fire fight jive with the after action reports of the day by the units involved.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:09 AM | Comments (4)
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Prosecutors in Greece are examining whether those responsible for setting the recent fires there, which so far have resulted in 63 deaths, can be prosecuted under terrorism laws.

Now it could be just one overzealous prosecutor. It looks like the head of the terrorism and organized crime unit is trying to get in on some arson action:

The public order ministry said Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting terrorism and organised crime, ordered the investigation to determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests carried out in the country during the summer of 2007" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law.

On the other hand, this wouldn't be the first time that folks have used terrorism's current popularity as the Cause of the Moment to simply name everything "terrorism" and be done with it. For example, many on the Left called the Virginia Tech massacre "terrorism" despite the fact that the atrocity was not perpetrated for any particular message or purpose. (They did this largely so that they could claim that domestic terrorism had occurred on President Bush's watch--not that this excuse makes them look any better.)

It is apparently enough that people are terrorised to implicate terrorism laws. Of course, most victims of violent crime could be said to be "terrorised."

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:37 AM | Comments (4)
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According to FNC the judge tells Vick that while prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 12-18 months, the judge isnÂ’t bound by that. Vick also must pay for the care of the 50+ dogs taken from his property.

Update:
Sentencing set for December 10th. Mark your calendars.

Update (Part two):

AP Story here.

Ominous quote from the judge (if you're Vick at least):

You're taking your chances here. You'll have to live with whatever decision I make

Posted by: DrewM. at 06:43 AM | Comments (40)
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