Chinese Stuff

I’m telling you – you don’t really want to eat it.
In Japan the Chinese dumplings put kids into a coma because of insecticide in them.

Tests by the Japanese health ministry revealed that the dumplings contained traces of an organic phosphorous insecticide that can cause severe stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.

And now in cancer drugs made in China are putting people into a coma.

A huge state-owned Chinese pharmaceutical company that exports to dozens of countries, including the United States, is at the center of a nationwide drug scandal after nearly 200 Chinese cancer patients were paralyzed or otherwise harmed last summer by contaminated leukemia drugs.

(This particular company makes all the RU486 imported here. Though its from a different and presumably safer plant. Should be just fine. No worries.)

To be fair there are like a zillion companies in China, so having a couple hundred manufacturing plants screw up is just a small blip. Right?

National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Whelp, I going to go, but roads are closed or icy due to global cooling, otherwise known as winter.
I wouldn’t want you to miss out the poem I wrote though!
Plus you can then understand why it’s important to let the professionals do their thing.

Today I take a trip out to the great beyond
Where snow is falling deeply but poetry abounds

Elko’s where I’m going, they say its there or bust
For the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, I trust

The primaries will continue
(Though Rudy’s thinking not)
While there in Elko, Nevada
I won’t give them a 2nd thought.

So do enjoy the two debates,
Follow Stephen as he commentates
Use the blogroll and maybe find a new link
Just to see what some other guys think

Thank you so much for stopping on in
I’ll post if big news is making me grin.
A photo or two might be the right thing
From Elko with love would have a nice ring!

Afghan Blasphemy

As Ralph Peters notes in the NYPost today, we can’t expect tribal people to act like nontribal people. He’s writing about Kenya. We did not help the situation by quickly accepting the new President who got there by cheating.

Our misunderstanding of how people outside of the west behave can exacerbate situations and I don’t disagree.

However, I despise the fact that we have to keep our people in Afghanistan while they choose to kill a man for what they are calling blasphemy.

It hasn’t happened yet, but:

The upper house of the Afghan parliament has supported a death sentence issued against a journalist for blasphemy in northern Afghanistan.

great, just great.

Libya

Is in the news again.
Supplying arms to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Not confirmed by the US as of yet, however, Omar of Iraq the Model wants some heads to roll. From the AP:

Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, who also is a police official in Anbar province, said those attacks were carried out by the Seifaddin Regiment, made up of about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters who slipped into the country several months ago from Syria.

Naief said the regiment, which is working with al-Qaida in Iraq, was supported by Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, 36, the eldest son of the Libyan leader.

“I am sure of what I am talking about, and it is documented,” Naief said, adding that he was “100 percent sure” of the younger Gadhafi’s role with the terror group.

A man who answered the phone at Gadhafi’s office in Tripoli said Gadhafi was not immediately available for comment on the accusation.

Naief told The Associated Press his information about the Seifaddin Regiment and the younger Gadhafi’s purported role came from “reliable sources” maintained by his Anbar Awakening Council within the ranks of al-Qaida in Mosul and elsewhere.

He said the information was passed to the U.S. military two or three months ago.

NOW

A lot of folks get on the National Organization for Women for not doing enough about global women because (probably) Bush is in office and they wouldn’t want to support him in any way. I let it slide because I think organizations need to keep a focus and if their focus is local and on silly issues, so be it.

So Scott at Environmental Republican notes a horrendous breach of civility out of NOW of NY concerning Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama yesterday.

The title just the title of their press release is enough to make me ill.

Psychological Gang Bang of Hillary is Proof We Need a Woman President

This press release seriously, seriously puts the “taunting” of Hillary Clinton by the “scared of females” male candidates in the same class as gang rape.

I will not bother with the ridiculous charges of taunting as if Hillary were the only candidate ever made fun of for whatever. (see Edward’s hair, or Kerry’s CIA hat, or Romney’s “giant erect penis”, or Dean’s scream or Bush’s booze or the list is endless) It is too whiney and not respectable and certainly not something a strong woman candidate would give a rip about.

But to put that taunting and string it to gang rape is unconscionable. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Dave at Uncorrelated notes another press release from the same NY organization where they call Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama the “ultimate betrayal”.

What?? A man and a woman are running and people are not allowed to choose the candidate they think is best, unless they choose the woman?? Is that what NOW is working for? Always choose the woman? Get me a gag bucket.

The reasonable news is that national NOW has put out a milder statement respecting Senator Kennedy’s endorsement.

This campaign got ugly with Bill’s involvement but NY NOW just made it uglier.

The Gaza Wall Breach

Blood Thirsty Liberal, my source of news in that section of the Middle East has found some interesting news.

While the desperate Palestinians were quickly crossing the border into Egypt to buy food, they had time to also quickly manufacture fake money to buy said food because the Egyptians shop keepers didn’t know the difference between real Israeli money and the fake stuff.

But no worries because while the Palestinians were overrunning the border, the Egyptian shop keepers were pulling out all their outdated food stuffs for such a great fire sale.

Ugh

Those Kids in Pakistan

Those kids at the school in Pakistan have been released.

Apparently the kidnappers didn’t intend to take the kids hostage but were escaping police after intending and actually taking a health department official hostage.

Police say the men had kidnapped a health department official from the neighbouring district of Karak on Monday.

They were then challenged by police but refused to stop at a police check post and went on to take over the school in an area called Domial, some 15 km north of Bannu town, the main town in the district.

Mr Musharraf said it had not been their intention to seize children.

“They didn’t go really to take the children as hostage,” he said during a visit to London.

It sounds like the hostage takers gave up after being given free passage. This can’t be a good thing.

SOTU

Glenn makes a fun point. The POTUS spoke in the SOTU on earmarks right at the beginning. Porkbusters anyone?

Harrison Bergeron has the quote of the night:

“Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.”

UPDATE: Heh!! Welcome Instapundit readers! Be sure to click through to Harrison’s Three Sources blog.

UPDATE:
Based on the comments here I thought you all might be interested in the CBO numbers released today: (via the Wall Street Journal)

The tax rate fell to 15% from 20%, yet revenue collections have climbed by 152% in four years

(from 2002-2005)

And:

This blowout in taxable gains has in turn translated into a revenue windfall for Uncle Sam. CBO now estimates that the capital gains tax will collect $127 billion in 2007, up from $49 billion in 2002. Capital gains revenue has undeniably been a major contributor to the decline in the budget deficit in recent years.

Ah, but wouldn’t revenues have been even higher with the 20% rate? With the help of the Strategas consulting firm, we went back and looked at what CBO predicted for revenues assuming a 20% rate. CBO estimated that from 2003-2007 the government would collect $260 billion. In fact, the feds have collected $470 billion over that period at the lower 15% rate. Even Tom Brady doesn’t do that much dynamic scoring.

And by the way, the capital gains rate is scheduled to return to 20% at the end of 2010 unless Congress acts in the interim. Hillary Clinton wants to raise it back to 20%, while Barack Obama and John Edwards say it should go as high as 28%. Apparently they don’t mind if the government loses revenue.

I’m just saying.

The “Experts”

Beware of the experts. They are starting to write off Hillary because Bill has made such an a** of himself.

The Clintons know the polls. The experts know what they want to see.
I’m not nearly as sure as Mr. Kristol is that Hillary is going down.

Right now, Hillary Clinton is ahead in the polls in almost all the big states voting. She is a tough and capable campaigner, and she may be able to hold on to those leads. But it is now clear that putting her in the White House brings a hyperactive Bill back in with her. Who needs it? Liberals and Democrats can get basically the same policies without the Clinton baggage, and in choosing Obama, they can nominate a more electable candidate.

So Hillary’s advantage in the polls will, I suspect, erode.

As he says, watch the Thursday night debate.

Kids held hostage

This isn’t good.

A group of armed men are holding children and teachers hostage in a school near the Pakistani district of North Waziristan.

Captain Ed shares his thoughts.

This has the earmarks of another disaster on the same scale as Beslan, only this time the Waziris will have to stand around and watch as the jihadis use their children for their political purposes. Once again, the Taliban targets the weakest and innocent for their psychotic purposes.

UPDATE Link fixed now.