Iraqis are Getting Fat!

al-Reuters is reporting the population of Iraq has discovered a new problem since their liberation for Saddam. They’re getting FAT and oh the horrors – have become couch potatos!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Starved of entertainment in their violence-racked city, many Baghdad residents are turning to food as one of their few remaining pleasures, and paying the price as they pile on the pounds.

Anecdotal evidence suggests many are eating out of boredom or stress, but Iraqis, not traditionally a nation of calorie counters, have an unhealthy, oil-soaked diet that combined with a lack of exercise makes gaining weight all too easy.

The obvious conclusion? It’s Bush’s fault!

“During Saddam’s time I used to go to the market, visit friends or just go walking in the district, but I’m too afraid to do that now,” said Nada, 33, a chemist whose weight seesawed before the war but is now an average of 7 kg (15.43 lb) overweight.

See… I wasn’t kidding, it’s Bush’s fault Iraqis are eating like pigs and appearing like an Arabic version of the late John Candy in a head scarf.

Hmmm… I wonder what excuse this chemist used during Saddam’s reign of terror when his weight hit the top end of that “seesaw?” It appears to me he has had a continuing weight problem.

Of course there is another side to this coin.

Baghdad gym store owners are claiming that more “people buying home fitness equipment,” a desire for fittness that has been “fueled by exercise shows broadcast on state and satellite television.”

al-Reuters fails to explain there were no gym stores under Saddam and no home fitness equipment to be purchased. They also miss the fact during Saddam Hussein’s reign, only Iraqi Satellite Channel and two land channels, Iraq and Shabab (Youth), were permitted. Owning satellite dishes was not permitted then and violators were penalized by confiscating the receiving devises, fine and detention for up to six months.

The Kurds have two satellite channels. They are Kurdistan channel associated with the Kurdish Democratic Party led by Massoud Barazani and Kurdistan TV.

Some channels are broadcast from Egypt and the UAE. While others cater to the minority population such as Turkman Iely of Turkmans. Somarian and Ishtar channels, which broadcast 40 percent of their programs in Surrian language, cater to Assyrian viewers.

So it would seem the true fault lays at the feet of freedom and the plethora of TV channels available.

Iraqi Baghdad psychiatrist al-Harith Hassan offers another possible cause, “But Iraqis are pitifully ignorant about their diet, which is unhealthy,” said Hassan.

Indeed, consider this possible solution: On one, or more, of the several dozen of sat channels that didn’t exist before pump in Martha Stewart or the Richard Simmons shows.

The price of freedom, being fat assed pigs! The Iranians, Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, to name a few, should have such “problems!”

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Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Terrorism, Saddam, Politics

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Plame Game Finally Goes Pffffft!

A new book about to hit the bookstores, and authored by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, lays out in excruciating (if you’re a Democrat with an acute case of BDS) detail the how, why and when Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent was “leaked” to the press.

In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, “Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,” Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a “senior administration official” who was “not a partisan gunslinger.” Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was “in deep distress,” says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. “I’m sure he’s talking about me.” …

Armitage’s central role as the primary source on Plame is detailed for the first time in “Hubris,” which recounts the leak case and the inside battles at the CIA and White House in the run-up to the war. The disclosures about Armitage, gleaned from interviews with colleagues, friends and lawyers directly involved in the case, underscore one of the ironies of the Plame investigation: that the initial leak, seized on by administration critics as evidence of how far the White House was willing to go to smear an opponent, came from a man who had no apparent intention of harming anyone.

In the long run this is non-news as more than a few not suffering an acute case of Bush Derangement Syndrome have rejected the Bush/Rove/Cheney/Libby conspiracy theories.

One of the two authors, David Corn, has more posted on his blog.

One mystery solved.

It was Richard Armitage, when he was deputy secretary of state in July 2003, who first disclosed to conservative columnist Robert Novak that the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson was a CIA employee.

A Newsweek article–based on the new book I cowrote with Newsweek correspondent Michael Isikoff, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War–discloses that Armitage passed this classified information to Novak during a July 8, 2003 interview. Though Armitage’s role as Novak’s primary source has been a subject of speculation, the case is now closed. Our sources for this are three government officials who spoke to us confidentially and who had direct knowledge of Armitage’s conversation with Novak. Carl Ford Jr., who was head of the State Department’s intelligence branch at the time, told us–on the record–that after Armitage testified before the grand jury investigating the leak case, he told Ford, “I’m afraid I may be the guy that caused the whole thing.”

A few questions remain, the most important of which is why Armitage keep silent knowing all along he was the original source and created a partisan and media firestorm that had no basis in fact. Bob Novak on Sunday’s “Meet The Press” had it right when stating: “I believe that the time has way passed for my source to identify himself”.

Indeed it is. It’s also time for “Special” Counsel Fitzgerald to wrap up this multi-million dollar exercise in futility and also explain why, knowing who the source was from the beginning, took it to the extreme he did.

And one final question: Will the shysters that filed a lawsuit against Rove and Cheney, at the behest of Plame and husband Joe Wilson, withdraw the suit? Or will they continue that sham in a continuing effort to pimp Plame’s new book, the one and only reason it was filed?

In answer to Rob_NC’s question – no Scooter won’t get an apology but his indictment will be dropped.

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Valery Plame, Joe Wilson, Bush, Libby, Cheney, Rove, CIA, Politics

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Nasrallah: Can I Have a “Do Over?”

The head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, speaking from his secret hideaway, has admitted in a broadcast speech that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to a full scale war.

“We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 … that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he said in an interview with Lebanon’s New TV station.

Put another way:

“Oh… my bust! I thought the playbook was the same as used before. Snatch a couple soldiers then trade their safety for hundreds of prisoners from Israeli lock-ups.” “Sorry… but as you can see Israel changed the playbook not I.” It’s the Joooooos fault!”

Capt’n Ed is of the opinion this admission shows a weakness of Hezbollahs position and is evidence Israel has come out on the winning side.

I remain skeptical, the court of public opinion at this point is what matters and the Arab press all point to Nasrallah as the winner. Not a good thing but hardly shocking either. And as ever… it’s the Jooooos fault!

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Hezbollah, Nasrallah, Lebanon, Israel, Terrorism, Syria, Politics, Cranial Cavity

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Rep. Lantos Channels Jimmy Carter

Former Pres. Carter was infamous for using his “status” as an ex-president to undermine a current sitting President’s policies. Lance Morrow writing for Time Magazine once called Cater the “Anti-President” for his antics against Clinton’s and the countrys policies on Haiti and North Korea.

Carter’s ultimate infamy came during the run-up to the first Gulf War, when he wrote members of the U.N. Security Council — including Mitterrand’s France and Communist China — urging them to thwart the Bush administration’s efforts at forming a coalition to free the freshly invaded Kuwait.

Fast forward to the current Israeli/Lebanon conflict and we have another Democrat playing spoiler to the Bush policy of providing $230 million in aid for Lebanon. This time it’s a sitting [Dim]ocrat, California Representitve Tom Lantos.

As I write this he sits in Israel threatening to withhold the needed funds until an agreement can be reached to have the new UNIFIL troops placed on the Syrian border in “adequate numbers.”

It should be said as the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee Lantos has the power to hold up legislation and thus the funds. (and why in the hell is that allowed?)

On a personnel level I agree with his premise, but not his methods. The myopic optometrist that sits in his regal castle as President of Syria has declared any troop build-up (on the Lebanese side) along the Lebanon/Syrian frontier would be considered an “act of war.”

In short, fuck Assad, his lunacy would give me more reason to mass as large a force as possible along the border, all carrying flags saying “bring what-cha got big boy!”. But that’s just me.

However Lantos’ actions seems counterproductive to this writer. (not to mention subverting the President) If the funds are ultimately withheld it sends the wrong message to people not needing any more reason to hate the U.S.

It also seems an odd position to take for someone that is the Co-Chairman of, Congressional Human Rights caucus. I guess the human rights of the Lebanese doesn’t count when a political hack is making a political statement.

Lantos’ has said, “my purpose is not to withhold aid from Lebanon, my purpose … is to persuade the government of Lebanon that the closing of the Lebanon-Syria border to arms smuggling from Iran and Syria is in the prime national interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese people.”

Sounds good on paper or when listening to a sound bite but in the end Lebanon couldn’t give one wit whether the border ever gets closed to arms smuggling. Or getting any U.S. aid it seems.

Nawwar Sahili, one of 14 Hezbollah members elected to the 128-seat Lebanese parliament has called for his government to reject any U.S. aid offered. “The U.S. administration is a partner in Israel’s aggression against Lebanon,” Sahili said in a telephone interview. “Accepting it would be like absolving the U.S. administration.”

Like any rejected aid, the Lebanese Gevernment will continue to reject any purposals to have their own or foreign forces along its border with Syria. That’s the way it has been, the way it is, and will remain so.

Lantos is attempting to piss on a flat rock without getting his shoes wet. I should think a more productive effort would be for Lantos to investigate why the UNIFIL mission actively aided Hezbollah during the 34 day war. Something tells me he wouldn’t find any interest in the problem. There is no political gain to be had.

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Terrorism, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Rep. Lantos, Politics, Cranial Cavity

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The GOP is Not Without its Share of Nutjobs

A case in point would be Mary Maxwell one of three candidates running in the Party’s primary election. She along with incumbent, Charles Bass and Berlin New Hampshire Mayor Bob Danderson are seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress’ 2nd District of New Hampshire.

Wednesday she was part of an an editorial board interview with The Telegraph newspaper and said the U.S. government had a role in killing nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Nothing shockingly inappropriate in that, most investigations have found many government agencies could have done a better job leading up to, and after the attack. In that sense the government did play a role.

But she didn’t stop at pointing out the inefficiencies of government, she explicitly claims the Sept. 11 attacks were meant “to soften us up . . . to make us more willing to have more stringent laws here, which are totally against the Bill of Rights . . . to make us particularly focus on Arabs and Muslims . . . and those strange persons who spend all their time creating little bombs,” giving Americans a reason “to hate them and fear them and, therefore, bomb them in Iraq for other reasons.”

She says the attacks “made the ground fertile” for more stringent laws, such as the Patriot Act. A sentiment echoed on her campaign website where she puts on a fine display of bunched panties over how close America is to being ruled under Martial Law.

Maxwell, a self described “strict Constitutionalist,” wants to bring the country “back to basics,” is part of the pull out of Iraq now crowd and also believes the U.S. shouldn’t immerse itself in the international community by signing trade and security pacts. (does that mean she’s in agreement with the U.N. moving out of Turtle Bay?)

Oh yea… she also strongly believes that the British government – and not the Germany military – sank the Lusitania ocean liner in 1915. An apparent basis for thinking democratic governments put on gigantic shames to attack themselves I guess. Can you spell Lunatic Fringe?

It’s also interesting to note she has only recently returned to the U.S after living “abroad” for the last 25 years.

That could mean Germany where she took a course in diplomatic and consular law at the University of Mannheim.

Given her propensity for conspiracies and the ease with which she sides with the jihadist-cut-throats over the U.S. Government I suspect she may have spent some time living in Londonistan.

After all, she would find like company in Londonistan where “Osama bin Laden is a good man” and couldn’t possibly attack America. It just has to be the Eviiiil U.S Government that purposefully killed 3,000 on 9/11!

UPDATE: (H/T Capt’n Ed) The WaPo has released the results of a poll of [Dim]ocratic competitive Congressional races. The results suggest Maxwell, Lamont, John Kerry, Dean,
Pelosi are the outliers in believing and pronnouncing support for any form of cut and run from Iraq.

Most Democratic candidates in competitive congressional races are opposed to setting a timetable for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, rejecting pressure from liberal activists to demand a quick end to the three-year-old military conflict.

Of the 59 Democrats in hotly contested House and Senate races, a majority agree with the Bush administration that it would be unwise to set a specific schedule for troop withdrawal, and only a few are calling for substantial troop reductions to begin this year, according to a Washington Post survey of the campaigns.

Unfortunately (for the [Dim]ocrats) all the leaders of the Party do support cut and run. They lead, provide for, and give credence to the public perception of being week on defense and unwilling to finish the job in Iraq.

This also demonstrates the old idea that all politics are local. As the candidates return to their respective districts and gage where their constituants are they have cut and run from their leaders “cut and run.”

Cross Posted @ Wizbang Bomb Squad.

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mary Maxwell, New Hampshire, Politics, 9/11, Cranial Cavity

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So Much for Hillary’s Health Care Issue

During potential First Husband’s first term as president Bill Clinton purposed a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans. It came to be known as “Hillary Care” and was to be a cornerstone of the administration’s first-term agenda.

When the plan was unmasked as being overly bureaucratic and restrictive of patient choice it died a quite death. You can bet your last dollar the issue will be resurrected if and when Hilldabeast decides to fullfill Bill’s First Husband dreams in 2008.

Those that back such efforts to add to the federal budget via another cash cow for HMO’s would do well to look to our northern friends in Canada.

Canadian Medical Association (CMA) this week held it’s annual meeting and the most divisive issue on the table was whether or not to allow patients to opt out of the national health care system by purchasing private health insurance.

Canadian doctors have given their blessing to patients having the option of purchasing private health insurance as a possible solution to the problem of not getting timely medically necessary treatment in the public system.

Delegates to the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association weighed in on the divisive subject Wednesday, defeating key resolutions aimed at getting voting physicians to register intolerance for any new parallel system of private health care.

The meeting was marked by what appeared to be a determined willingness by the majority of the 250 delegates to keep private-care options firmly on the table.

A day earlier, they overwhelming approved a resolution asking governments to remove existing bans that prevent physicians from practising in both the private and public sectors. At the time, they rejected an amendment that said such a move would be allowed only if there was no negative impact on the publicly funded system.

Emphasis mine.

For those that didn’t pass Reading Comprehension 101, in short, it says doctors have been barred from working in private practice if they currently work within the public health system.

This signals a major shift in Canadian attitudes about public vs. private healthcare. Outgoing CMA president Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai in an attempt to put on a smiley face on the meeting said, “If we begin to put doctors’ interests ahead of the patients and advocate a parallel system to compete against (the public system), we will lose the public trust.”

Newsflash doctor the public is suffering through a lack of access to diagnostic equipment and long waits in crowded hospitals under the current system and their trust in the system has about run its course.

Hillary, are you paying attention to our northern neighbors? Or are you spending too much time bashing Donald Rumsfeld as you attempt to pander to the far left barking moonbats like this one or these two?

For a more in depth look at the Canadian system and its failures I suggest the CBC as a good general resource on the topic and its archive pages hold a good amount of data on its beginnings as a “natiional system” starting in the 1950’s.

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Hillary Clinton, Health Care, Canada, Politics, President Bush, Cranial Cavity

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Remind Me Again How a Democracy Works

Silly me… I was under the impression if you were an American citizen, met the applicable rules for the office you were seeking and had a desire to serve your fellow Americans you could.

Little did I know none of that applies to the State of Connecticut, or if your name is Joe Lieberman.

HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 21 — Critics of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s independent run to keep his job attacked on two fronts Monday, with one group asking an elections official to throw him out of the Democratic Party and a former rival calling on state officials to keep his name off the November ballot.

Staffers for the senator from Connecticut, who lost the Aug. 8 Democratic primary to Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, called both efforts dirty politics. The senator filed as an independent candidate a day after the loss, running under the new Connecticut for Lieberman Party.

You’re too kind Joe, “dirty politics” hardly meets the proper definition of what these asshats are trying.

Totalitarian is a lot closer to the truth. If anyone has been wondering what the Netroots, er… the Nutroots will bring to politics you’re lookin’ at it.

These fuckin’ bastards are acting more like the Iranian Mullahs who disqualified over 2,500 candidates in the last Iranian “election.”

Welcome to the Mullahcracy of Connecticut, proudly sponsored by the [Dim]ocratic Party.

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Connecticut, Joe Lieberman, Politics, Iran, Cranial Cavity

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